CAREN Hugo's daughter Isabella Malone was once the Wagga Blaze's unofficial 'mascot'.
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As a baby and toddler she was a constant presence beside the basketball court as her mother plied her trade.
Nowadays Isabella, 14, is busy forging her own sporting path while Hugo juggles playing netball, basketball, junior coaching and being a busy working mum.
Hugo, 36, is the only mother on The Rock-Yerong Creek's first grade netball team and the Blaze.
An achilles injury robbed her of the chance to play in both team's premiership runs last year, which means she has unfinished business in 2019.
She also coaches Isabella's under-16 netball team at New Kids and works four days a week as a pharmacy assistant.
Hugo will have earned Mother's Day breakfast in bed from 'Bella' this Sunday after returning from the Blaze's Saturday road trip to Tamworth.
"Isabella would come to training and when she just started learning to walk, she'd get put in a little cage beside the training court," Hugo said.
"One of the girls would run off the court to entertain her for a bit, then come back on.
"We traveled together for games, but I think she got a bit over it once she got older.
"I'm the only mum on both sides (TRYC and Blaze) and The Rock girls are a bit funny, they've started calling me the mum of the team."
Hugo jokes she feels "old" when she spots young gun Amelia Hassett at Blaze training.
The nature of country sport means she often lines up on court with teenagers similar in age to her daughter.
"She (Hassett) is the same age as Bella, which makes me feel really old," she laughed.
"They're pretty good kids and we just relate to each other on a sporting level more than anything else.
"I remember when I was younger playing with people my age now it was intimidating, so I try not to do that."
Hugo watched the Blaze and TRYC's grand final wins with mixed emotions, but 'FOMO' virtually ensured rupturing her achilles on the netball court in 2017 wouldn't be her final act.
"The sitting around doing nothing got to me," she said.
"It was a tough couple of weeks (watching grand finals). I watched the basketball girls on the live stream and it was a bit hard to watch, but I was so proud of them at the same time.
"The injury wasn't fun, it was a long process and really painful. My right foot was in a boot for about three months so I couldn't drive and had to take time off work, it was frustrating.
"Because netball felt unfinished I was always going to come back and play that."
Hugo is co-captain of a TRYC side which has begun its title defence with four wins from as many games.
The Blaze has also started strongly with two wins from three matches before Saturday's road trip to Tamworth.
"I thought I retired from basketball in 2016 when we won that year," Hugo said.
"They don't really need me this year, it's just padding for the bench because the girls on there are quite young."
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