DUAL Olympic bronze medallist Alicia Smith has called on the powers-that-be to find a way to give regional junior talent more opportunities to develop after visiting Wagga for a development camp at Oasis Aquatic Centre on the weekend.
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The region's best under-13 and under-15 talent were treated to top level coaching from Smith and NSW state mentors Ivana Drakulic and Glen Simpson.
Smith said the speed at which the youngsters put the direction they were given into practice rammed home the need to give country talent more chances to get involved in the sport and aspire to playing at a high level.
"I would love to see the sport grow in the regions. The better it is out here, the better the city kids get anyway," she said.
"It would be great to see not only the current kids getting better, but it would be nice to see it grow. Even if we had a regional competition where the regional kids played against each other a bit more, you could have a best of three series.
"There's other opportunities they get in the city, we need to find a way to give these kids more chances also.
"It would also be really good if we can do a clinic here to help the coaches, to show them what we've told the kids so they can reinforce those things rather than them forgetting it over time.
"Wagga's got the facilities and the kids, you can't make that facility any better and if we can put some more time into the coaches and get that consistency of message (it would top it off)."
Smith said the camp was about reinforcing the fundamental, but also some tips on game craft.
"The first day was getting a gauge of where the kids where at, and and after the games on Sunday there was some huge improvement," she said.
"Their awareness of the space was the biggest thing, using your legs and holding the ball in the right direction, looking for cross passes.
"We worked on things like how to draw a foul, how to protect the ball, and playing a team game where you don't always have to have a shot yourself.
"We gave them so much information, especially the first day, but they retained so much of it and it will be interesting to see what they take back to their clubs."
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