It wasn't that long ago that Mardi Aplin was watching daughter Marley run around in Net Set Go.
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Fast forward a few years and Marley took to the court for the first time alongside her mother for Life Studio in their division one match against Orange City Craig Harvey Mechanical.
Ms Aplin said it had been a long time coming with mother and daughter spending many winters together at the Anzac Park netball courts.
"It was amazing," she said.
"With myself being involved in netball for such a long time, she's been sitting on the sidelines and around the court since she could walk and waiting for the day she was selected.
"This year it has finally happened and it was such an amazing moment.
"I helped start Net Set Go in Orange years ago and I still remember when they were four years old and running back in the day. They used to play in these bright pink shirts."
Despite Life Studio suffering a heavy 66-21 loss to the defending champions, Ms Aplin said the young side was learning some valuable lessons.
The club has seven junior players stepping up to the top division in 2023, a trend that has been seen across the association.
Ms Aplin said COVID had robbed some age groups of earning the usual representative honours following the cancellation of the 2020 and 2021 Junior State Titles while wet weather washed out the final day of the 2022 edition.
"She has missed out a bit because of COVID. Her age group only had one day of state titles last year because of the rain," she said.
"We've got a few new girls. Only about four in the team have played together before.
"We were actually proud of the effort and that the score didn't get further away from us.
"We had trials in February. I'm really proud of the girls who have stepped up, it's really satisfying they can show everyone their stuff.
"No one wants to go up against City first up. They are stacked with great netballers."
Life Studio have the bye in round two with the club's other team, LS DVM taking on Vipers.
City CHM meet Hawks Royal Hotel at 1pm to open the division one fixture while Orange City Our City Real Estate face off against Orange High School Hornets.
Round 2 fixtures
OCNC Craig Harvey Mechanical v Hawks Royal Hotel @ 1.00pm on Court A
OCNC Our City Real Estate v OHS Hornets @ 2.20pm on Court A
LS DVM v Vipers @ 3.40pm on Court A
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Dominic Unwin
Sports reporter covering the length and breadth of Western NSW since 2024. Got a yarn? Send me an email via dominic.unwin@austcommunitymedia.com.au
