Kate Lloyd Photo Michael Bradley Kate Lloyd’s outstanding 2017 just keeps getting better.

Fresh off the back of being called in to the Mainland Tactix squad as injury cover, the 1.92-metre defender was yesterday named in the Netball New Zealand Under 21 side to travel to Botswana in July to compete at the Netball World Youth Cup.

The former Ashburton College student, who is now studying at Lincoln University, was one of 12 names announced yesterday as a part of the squad who will have the added pressure of defending the world title after winning it back in 2013.

It comes off the back of another solid 12 months on the court for Lloyd who has drawn attention to herself through her hard work and determination, whether it be as part of the Tactix squad or through her involvement with the Mainland side in the Beko League.

Under-21 coach, Kiri Wells, told Netball NZ that it had been a tough selection process with all players in the squad stepping up, but the 12 selected have the edge and x-factor required.

“We’ve seen some amazing performances in the ANZ Premiership particularly,” Well said.

“The players have shown that they can stand up and that they can be tough – and we’re going to need tough.

“We’ve picked a team that gives us a lot of variety, particularly at either end of the court.

“We’ve got holding shooters, moving shooters, we’ve got defenders who can play space and play tight man, and so we can mix it up and really use our game plans to advantage.”

As three-time winners of the gold medal at the Netball World Youth Championships, the pressure will be on the New Zealand side to perform.

They won the competition in 1992, 2005 and 2013.

This year they will have the services of some of New Zealand’s most exciting netball talents, Lloyd included, featuring current Silver Ferns Maia Wilson and Kelly Jury along with a number of players who have stood up at ANZ Premiership and Beko Netball League levels.

The team departs for South Africa on July 3 where they will group for a training camp in Johannesburg before heading to Gaborone for their first match against Northern Ireland on July 8.

Their pool also consists of Sri Lanka, Scotland and Samoa.

By Matt Markham © The Ashburton Guardian - 25 May 2017