No shock selection: . . . New NSW captain Alix McDermott.
Alix McDermott gave away the Little As because she "was shocking at athletics".
So she took up netball at 12 and thought "fingers crossed I'll be good at it".
"But I was just shocking, really bad," she said before describing her deficiencies.
McDermott said she tried Little Athletics because of family pressure to be good at a sport.
She persevered at netball because of her older sister Kristy, who also played.
"She was my mentor," she said.
All this could be read as extreme modesty or extreme self-criticism.
It could also be read as sending up the whole media process, because McDermott made her mark in netball almost immediately.
She went from shocking to goal shooter in quick time.
McDermott has been the classic progression: NSW and Australian age squads, national titles, NSW and Australian Institute of Sport scholarships.
It's culminated with her being named NSW captain for last week's national under-21 championships in Canberra, where she was joined by fellow Baulkham Hills sharpshooter Kristina Bryce.
Her goal, as was everyone's in Canberra, is to make the Australian team for the World Youth Cup in Glasgow in August.
"I was at the AIS for two years and that meant netball every day and travelling and dedication," she said, adding she was aware there would be "another life" after netball.
How was she preparing for that other life?
"I'm studying podiatry and human anatomy," said the now-university student.
And as she said of podiatry: "At least I'll know my own foot problems".
Dare it be said: after a shocking start, she's putting her best foot forward.
■ NSW defeated Western Australia 53-50 to finish third in the title. McDermott and Bryce shot 85 per cent.