"Skills, practice, passion and a whole lot of determination" are the ingredients young netballer Amy Earles will need to get to the top of her game.
That was the advice of Silver Fern Laura Langman, who met the 13-year-old Tauranga Girls' College student at Aspire Health and Fitness Club's opening in Bethlehem on Saturday.
Amy told Langman, 29, that she currently played in goal attack or wing attack positions, and that she dreamed one day of being a Silver Fern herself.
"I'm working on my shooting style and shoot 100 goals a day every day to practise," Amy told Langman.
Mum Denise Earles said she never had to tell her daughter to practise and that she was "totally dedicated" to netball.
Langman said to reach top level players also needed to work on overall strength and fitness.
Amy is considering enrolling in the elite training school at Aspire "to improve upper-body strength".
Mrs Earles said it was great to have a new training environment in the Bay for teenagers who wanted to make it to the top. The gym's high-performance training centre would be directed by All Blacks head strengthening and conditioning coach Nic Gill, who lived in Tauranga and who had 20 years' experience training athletes around the world.
The centre's lead coach was Dan Ward-Smith, who had a 12-year career as a professional rugby player in England and who said aspiring sports players of tomorrow could be nurtured by the Bay's best sports trainers, as well having access to the facilities at the gym. Those facilities included a high-performance area, Ludus Magnus arena, indoor running track, 25-metre heated pool, hot and cold plunge pools for recovery, and a health-focused cafe.
Physios, massage therapists, nutritionists and a podiatrist would be on-site to help athletes with a holistic approach to training, performance enhancement, diet and rehabilitation.
"If your child is excelling in a particular sport, we want to put them on the best track to give them the very best chance of success," Ward-Smith said. He said Aspire would likely work with several local high schools, including Bethlehem, Otumoetai and Aquinas colleges, and hoped to provide scholarships in future.
Meanwhile, Amy could not hide her excitement at not only meeting her netball heroine but winning a signed Silver Ferns netball top.
"Best day ever," she said.