Rotorua's Samantha Sinclair pictured in action during a winning Fast5 Netball World Series with New Zealand. PHOTO/FILE
Rotorua's Samantha Sinclair pictured in action during a winning Fast5 Netball World Series with New Zealand. PHOTO/FILE
To say that Rotorua's Sam Sinclair has enjoyed a successful 2016 would be a massive understatement.
Sinclair, 21, is positively beaming, thanks to a year which saw her named in the 2017 Silver Ferns squad after a winning Fast5 Netball World Series with New Zealand and consistent play in the defunct transtasman league with Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic.
It is due to this meteoric rise in her sport through sheer hard work and determination that I've picked Sinclair as my top Rotorua emerging talent of the year.
The former John Paul College student described 2016 as a "special year" and said receiving the phone call to confirm her place in the 2017 Silver Ferns squad from coach Janine Southby was her top moment.
"What a year," she said. "It's definitely included some of the main goals I have been working towards for a long time. It's very much been a work in progress - setting myself stepping stones and all the time working towards a goal.
"I was delighted to get that call. I really enjoyed the Fast5 as a whole - playing in the final was incredible and I was on such a high and a buzz. To then be named off the back of that and get selected, well it was a dream come true."
Sinclair will play in the Netball Quad Series in South Africa and England in the new year.
Southby said with the next pinnacle event, the Commonwealth Games, 16 months away, now was the time to test emerging talent, especially Sinclair, who was adept at both centre and wing defence, in the international environment.
"Sam is really dogged and determined with everything she does. We need that at the international level," Southby said.
"Her one-on-one marking, that's an area we're really interested in. We need to have a variety of styles to be able to compete against the teams we play against."
Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic's Samanatha Sinclair in action for her side last year. PHOTO/FILE
The talented midcourter was also recently nominated at the 2016 Brian Perry Waikato Regional Sports Awards - in the emerging talent category.
"It's pretty exciting. There are some amazing sports people involved and it's humbling to be nominated," Sinclair said. "I don't do the sport for the awards but it's always nice to receive a nomination."
Sinclair will miss the awards - she will be away travelling with the Silver Ferns on their Netball Quad Series tour which starts in Durban, South Africa, with a test match against the Australian Diamonds on Saturday 28 January.
The squad will then move to England where the Silver Ferns will face the England Roses on Thursday 2 February in Liverpool, and South Africa's SPAR Proteas on Sunday 5 February in London.
Sinclair, who will then suit up for preseason with Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic ahead of the 2017 ANZ Premiership start, said she was excited ahead of a "very big year" in netball with her new year's resolution simply - "to be the best athlete I can be".
"This is set to be a very massive 2017," she said. "It's going to be a very long year. So the key will be pacing myself and making sure to maintain a good balance and enjoy what I'm doing.
"With this summer break it can be pretty tough and it's all about making the right choices. At times I will be questioning it when I'm having a really [tough] running session and my family are at the beach but you have to look at the bigger picture.
"My goal is to be the best athlete I can be. There's [many things] that I want to achieve this year and I'll work hard to achieve them."
