Black hitting refresh

By Stephanie Smarrelli 
 
While most 21-year-olds are out partying every weekend, Sunshine Coast Lightning young gun Ava Black is playing in the world’s best netball league. 

The self-proclaimed ‘country kid’ from the agricultural Darling Downs region of Queensland still can’t believe she gets to call netball work. 

Black first fell in love with the sport as a pre-teen, one of four sports she enjoyed while growing up in Toowoomba. 

Black feels a deep connection to her roots and has an appreciation for her parents who accompanied her on the long car rides to and from Brisbane to chase her dreams.  

"In the Darling Downs, you don't really get a lot of superstars coming through the pathway, we had Laura Geitz but otherwise there’s not many, so it’s exciting when we get a few country kids who make it in the professional sports realm,” she said. 

“That area growing up was very special, we do a good job celebrating the country kids who do go far in sport because it’s very unheard of.” 

Making her debut for the Lightning as a replacement player while in her second year as a training partner feels like a lifetime ago for Black but it was only two years ago. 

"The debut was incredible, and I’ll remember it forever,” she said. 

“I remember being on the bench and I was nervous, scared I was going to stuff it up if I went on. 

"Then I went on and I realised it's like an office job; when you do it every day, it's not bad.” 

There were no guarantees Black would be given a full-time playing contract for the 2024 season having only debuted as a replacement player but fortunately for her, Lightning coach Belinda Reynolds had a contract with her name on it.  

It hasn’t been all sunshine and rainbows for the youngster with her time on court in 2024 limited by a pesky ankle injury. 

Black was participating in post-game top ups after Round 3 when the injury struck, shaking the youngster mentally.  

“I had the best pre-season coming into 2024,” Black said. 

“I felt good, super powerful, fit, and combinations wise I was getting a good feel with the group. 

“It was a tough hit when I got injured to mentally take on board what was happening after all the work I'd done and how confident I was feeling.”  

Black confessed the injury led to some tough conversations with Lightning’s coaching staff. 

"You get an injury in pre-season, and you can work back into it, but if you get an injury during the season the coach’s priority is the 10 to win games,” she said. 

“They were like ‘we'll adjust you and bring you in as you need but we also need to have the right people out on court with combinations to win.’ 

“That was a whole different level of mental prep, to feel good but be team first and know the team needs the combinations out there to win even if that's me on the sideline.” 

Sitting on the sidelines left Black reeling with thoughts of what could've been, but she was prepared to put the team first. 

“That was a really hard spot to be in but coming back in I was never at the top level I was in that pre-season,” she said. 

“Bouncing back was difficult, even with the game time, I was disappointed at the end of the 2024 season, I didn't show who I am out there.” 

With a disappointing season behind her, Black took the offseason to really refresh and get out of the house as much as she could. 

“I really enjoy a lot of mindset work and self-development,” she confessed. 

“I've been focusing a lot on it, prior to last year I never had an injury set me back, my restriction has always been a bit more in the mindset space rather than injuries. 

“I love reading a lot of self-development stuff and outside of that I’m at the beach.” 

Fresh off the back of a trip to Europe with her family, Black is ready to fire in 2025. 

“New year, new season, we’re on the ground now,” she said. 

“I had a nice little break to reset but I'm coming back into routine again, which I've been itching for.  

“We've got a few girls away with the Diamonds too, so we get to have a bit more individual skill time. 

“I’m feeling really good for this season.” 

Lightning captain Steph Fretwell had high praise for Black when she spoke with us late last year alluding to the potential the 21-year-old has to become a star.  

“I'm excited to see what she can do, we've only seen a small glimpse of where she could end up,” Fretwell said.  

Black confessed, she still gets a bit starstruck playing alongside the Lightning captain. 

“Every day when I train with Steph, it's funny because, I'll be having a normal conversation with her, then I'll walk away and think ‘that’s Steph Fretwell, who I've grown up watching and idolising and now I'm chatting to her about random stuff,’” she said. 

“It’s still surreal...when one of your players speaks about you and they give you a compliment you hold it in high regard because it generally means a lot, and no one watches you in your training sessions as much as a captain does, they know exactly who's lifting and who's not turning up.  

"It’s a massive compliment from her.”  

The Lightning crew are a tight knit group, a quick scroll through their Instagram accounts will attest to how much time they spend together away from the netball court. 

Black believes their connection is in part due to the Sunny Coast environment providing plenty of sunshine and good vibes year-round. 

“We're lucky up here, we've got the perfect location, post training is a lot of beach time together,” she said. 

“There are so many youngsters who are energetic to be here, and the experienced players still have that ball of energy that feels like day one for them. 

“We do genuinely love being around each other, even after four hours on court a day,” 

In the second year of her full-time contract with the club, Black is looking forward to continuing to build on her relationships with her teammates in 2025.  

“Our first year, we had big recruits who we’d been watching on TV for so long and as a youngster, you're still trying to figure out who they are as people and you're watching them in awe and those tough conversations weren’t had because the relationships weren’t there yet,” she explained.  

“Whereas now we've built those relationship further and those tough conversations are able to happen out on court. 

“As much as Lizzy could give me feedback, I'm able to tell her what I need from her whereas that probably wasn't quite there in 2024.” 

For Black the side’s biggest strength lies in the Lightning’s depth. 

"In each position you've got a playoff with players fighting for a starting spot,” she said. 

“It creates a good challenging environment and is a weapon as we all play differently, for opposition teams that’s really messy and can be challenging for them to have another player come onto the court who plays differently to the one they were just on. 

"We've got a good balance of experience and inexperience which helps us keep our uniqueness rather than trying to mould into someone else.”  

While their strength is their depth, there’s one area the Lightning will be laser-focussed on in 2025 according to Black. 

"We have moments of play where we can't finish the last pass and don't punish teams,” she said. 

"Belinda’s put this team together but it’s on us to make sure individually we are contributing, and our skills are at the right level. 

"At the end of the season, we weren't happy with where we got to with the punish mentality and it's on us with how we train each day to bring that. 

"As a coach from the sideline you can deliver the perfect game plan and the perfect words but if as a group, we're not delivering out on court with the same punish mentality it means nothing.” 

With the 2025 season drawing closer, there’s one match up Black has circled in her calendar. 

“The Swifts, I've been following Grace Nweke for a bit and I'm excited for her to be over here,” she said. 

“For myself, not in the international realm, I've had the joy of watching with no pressure. 

"Grace is going to be a huge weapon for the Swifts, it'll be interesting how we come up against her and how our style of defence play, it’s going to be my match of the season. 

“With a strong target in the goal circle, there's probably more pressure on the wing defence, centre and goal defence to hold the ball out before it gets there, it'll be a challenge but I’m keen to see her in this environment.”  

Putting her excitement aside, Black has one goal in mind for 2025. 

“Whether I'm on for a few minutes or a whole game, I want to make sure every time I'm out there I'm putting out a brand of Ava Black that I'm happy with,” she said. 

“My brand is very energetic, powerful and speedy. 

“I play a bit more of an aerial game than a normal midcourter, which sometimes is hard because I want to be this strong, short midcourter but I’ve got the lanky, athletic midcourter build.  

“But my style of play is very different, it’s my weapon.”