Giants goalkeeper Sam Poolman is channelling the passion and commitment that has made her one of Super Netball’s fiercest competitors to help the next generation.

The 28-year-old, who captained Australia’s 2018 Fast5 team, is the driving force behind Aspire, a series of programs for netballers aged between 11-18 in the Hunter region.

Sam Poolman, centre, during one of the Aspire training sessions.

One of Poolman’s programs, which is run via the Hunter Academy, prepares elite age-group players for state and regional selection; another teaches girls striving for success about injury prevention and wellbeing, while Aspire’s third arm teaches on-court skills.

"I see this as my opportunity to link with my community, share my knowledge and give everything I know," said Poolman. "Something they can all take from me is I’m not a naturally talented athlete. I worked hard and sacrificed a lot. I try to let the [girls] know it’s often the well-rounded athletes who grow from their setbacks that go on to make it."

Poolman said her involvement with the region’s next generation of players also provided her with insights into the pressures today’s young girls and teenagers must cope with.

"Kids need a lot of support, there’s much more demands on them," she said. "And social media has such a strong influence on their lives.

I see this as my opportunity to link with my community, share my knowledge and give everything I know.

"I try to teach them about being resilient and what goalsetting involves. They’re also taught the importance of time management and that’s important because they have so much going on in their lives, particularly their school and sport."

As a talented teenager Poolman travelled from Newcastle to Sydney six times a week to fulfil her elite pathway and training commitments as a member of NSW and national junior squads.

"I got to know the highway so well I could tell [by looking at a landmark] how far we were from home," she said with a laugh. "I still don’t know how my parents did it.

"I sacrificed a lot [as a young player] because I was willing to identify the many things that weren’t in line with my values and my goals.

"I also believe the tools girls can gain through sport [including discipline, resilience and time management] can help them to do better at school, to do well in interviews and to go down the university pathway.

"So, I’m a firm believer in what they can learn through sport, and I’m trying to also help set them up through the values my programs re-enforce."

Poolman isn’t only unearthing talented athletes. After discovering one Aspire participant, 17-year-old Krystal Dallinger, was a talented Indigenous artist she helped to showcase the teenager’s stunning artwork to a national audience by playing a hand in having her design the Giants uniform that was worn in the Indigenous round.

"Krystal gave me a beautifully painted Giants hat as a gift at the end of a program," Poolman said. "Not only could I see how talented she is, but I also realised she’s very passionate about her culture.

"I took the hat into the Giants and told them about this aspiring netballer who was also a brilliant artist. Krystal was invited to design our Indigenous Round outfits and, as everyone would’ve seen, she did a brilliant job."

Poolman said if the history between the fourth-placed Giants and third-placed Melbourne Vixens was a reliable gauge, Saturday’s match at the Quaycentre promised to be yet another fierce battle.

"I love playing against the Vixens, we’ve had some great battles with them," said Poolman. "Some have been in really crucial games.

"We’ve knocked them out of finals, and we’ve also played them in other tight situations – including those times when we’ve needed to beat them to make the top four.

"We’ll need to be at our best because apart from doing the basics so well, the Vixens rarely cough up the ball."

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