Kate Lloyd in action. Photo credit Michael Bradley.After a stellar season with the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic, netballer Kate Lloyd was named in the Silver Ferns development squad. She was at home in Ashburton this week and caught up with the Guardian’s Erin Tasker.

Kate Lloyd’s rapid rise through New Zealand netball ranks has caught even the 21-year-old defender off guard.

At times this season, when she took to the court to form a defensive partnership with New Zealand netball legend Casey Kopua in the Waikato/Bay of Plenty side in the ANZ premiership, she had to pinch herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming.

But she wasn’t and the surprises weren’t done with yet. At the end of the ANZ Premiership, where the Magic finished a disappointing fifth out of six teams, the talented 1.92m-tall defender was named in the Silver Ferns development squad.

Lloyd said she couldn’t believe it.

“I was so shocked. It was only probably a 30-second phone call, but I kept saying, ‘are you sure?’.”

They were sure and come December Lloyd will head off to a week-long Silver Ferns development camp where she’ll get a chance to continue what has been a massive year when it comes to learning.

A year ago, Lloyd was in a sort of netballing limbo. She’d just finished a season as part of the Mainland Tactix side, but with no shortage of talented defenders already within the Tactix ranks, Lloyd was only contracted to the Tactix as a training partner, and she was happy with that.

n her first year out of school Lloyd was studying at Lincoln University and playing for Mainland in the Beko Netball League, and the following year made the Tactix team as an injury replacement. When that season finished, Lloyd wasn’t sure what the future held for her.

Other players were talking about what they were doing the following season, but Lloyd didn’t really know how the whole contracting process worked and so she just focused on getting the job done as part of the New Zealand under-21 side for the world cup. She headed to Botswana with the team, where they did get the job done, and found a surprise waiting for her when she got home.

“I went to the world cup and came back and had a Facebook message from Marg Forsyth, the Magic coach. I didn’t even know who she was so I had to Google her,” Lloyd said.

Forsyth was a former Silver Fern who had been part of the Magic coaching team since 2014 and took on the role of head coach in 2017. She asked if Lloyd was contracted for the 2018 season.

She had the training partner contract for the Tactix side, but after a few emails back and forth, Lloyd decided to take the plunge and make the move north and become a fully-fledged ANZ premiership player, contracted to the Magic.

“I had to step up. Coming to the Magic I thought I would be a bench player and just sit there and soak it all up,” Lloyd said.

But Kelly Jury’s dislocated shoulder changed things and Lloyd found herself on court forming a defensive partnership with Kopua, a player she had idolised as a youngster dividing her time between netball and basketball while growing up in Ashburton.

“I had to grow and learn so rapidly, but it was probably the best thing for me in terms of netball.”

Lloyd said Kopua was like royalty in Hamilton and she never dreamed she’d get the opportunity to play alongside her. “I never thought I would see the day. I thought she would retire before I even got close to her, but she’s still ticking along and giving the younger ones a run for their money,” Lloyd said.

Even in her first year as part of the Tactix squad, lining up to shake the hands of players after games who she had grown up watching on the television didn’t feel real. “I still feel like the young one that’s just at their ankles,” Lloyd said.

Moving to Hamilton was a big move both in terms of netball and in life.

Playing for the Tactix and studying sport and recreation management at Lincoln University, Lloyd had been only an hour’s drive away from home and family. Moving to Hamilton had been a big step and had allowed her to learn a lot about herself.

She was out in the big wide world on her own, but she still had incredible support from her biggest fans – her family. Her parents took a big crew to one of her games in Wellington and when they played the Tactix in Christchurch they’d take a couple of van-loads of people to watch.

On a sunny Sunday in her Ashburton family home, where she’ll be based for the next while as she catches up on some of the papers she’d missed while living in Hamilton, Lloyd looked up at the framed New Zealand under-21 netball dress and medal that took pride of place on the wall. It was a bit embarrassing, she said.

But, the support of her family over the years has been huge and she is happy to be home in Ashburton, where she isn’t Kate Lloyd the netballer. She is Kate Lloyd the daughter and friend, who just happened to play netball at a pretty high level. Just how far she could go in netball, Lloyd didn’t know.

“Ever since I was 12 I’ve wanted to be a Silver Fern, but you just need to be realistic,” Lloyd said.

“I know, for me, I’m not ready yet. I would love to be in there but I want to be in there when I feel ready and confident that I can do the job.”

Her next challenge was known though, with Lloyd this week having been named as part of the Tactix squad for the 2019 season.

© The Ashburton Guardian - 1 September 2018