When you are the daughter of Australian netball and rugby internationals, sporting pedigree runs deep in your veins.
Latika Tombs has always been someone who loves a challenge. It’s not surprising given Mum Carissa shone bright for the Diamonds while Dad Richard is a former Wallabies and NSW representative player.
The apple fell close to the tree with Tombs and it’s in her mother’s footsteps that she’s following.
A proud current member of the Netball NSW pathway and the GIANTS Netball Academy, Tombs has also blazed her trail via the Origin Energy Premier League for the past six years with the Manly Warringah Sapphires.
“To say I’ve been here since the inaugural year is pretty cool,” Tombs says.
“I’ve been a part of Manly since I started playing down at Curl Curl when I was six years old so the club has played a huge role in my netball so far.
“If the opportunity to continue to play with them in future years keeps coming then I see no reason to leave a club that’s given me so much.”
That will be music to the Sapphires’ ears, and it’s no wonder given the environment that Manly-Warringah provides.
“I love training under Mel (Clarke, Head Coach), she’s an extremely dedicated coach who drives up and back from Canberra twice a week which blows my mind," Tombs says.
“But she also genuinely cares about us all as players and individuals which I think is such an awesome quality to have as a coach.
“She also puts up with our antics at training so we’re all lucky to have her.”
The Sapphires started slowly this season, but Tombs knows nothing is won and lost by this stage of the year. She also notes that the Premier League has lifted in intensity year-on-year since its inception in 2016.
“We definitely didn’t have the start to the season we were hoping for,” she says.
“We struggled a bit with consistency, not only game to game but quarter by quarter, so that has been an ongoing ‘work on’ for us and I think it’s starting to show on court and with our position on the ladder.
“I think the competition continues to get stronger, faster and competitive every year.
“This year in the Opens, at the moment, there’s only seven points between first and seventh making it anyone’s game. It’s one thing to get into the top four but to stay there is another.”
Tombs also knows none of her current pathway opportunities would be possible without her junior days playing the State Titles (formerly State and State Age Championships).
She harbours dreams of playing Suncorp Super Netball one day but she still frequently reflects on playing junior rep netball.
“I cannot put into words how much I loved my junior rep days, they were the best,” she says.
“My younger sister is in the 14’s and I tell her all the time that I’m so jealous that she’s still playing at State Age.
“My favourite memories would have to be the years of belly laughs with nine of my best mates.
“I was fortunate enough to have a team that hardly changed over the four years so we ended up being really close and had way too much fun.
"A close second favourite memory would be the years we won!”
With Netball NSW launching Academies for both the NSW Swifts and GIANTS, Tombs is delighted there are now more opportunities for aspiring elite athletes.
“It’s super important, the Academies fill a hole in the pathway perfectly,” she adds.
“They provide players with access to facilities, coaches and staff that they otherwise wouldn’t have access to. This extra training then filters back into their Premier League teams and continues to help the competition grow.
“I’ve enjoyed meeting new people as a lot of the girls were faces I’d seen around the courts for years but had never met.
“But what I’ve enjoyed most about being a part of the GIANTS Academy was the opportunity to play against the Netball New South Wales All-Stars indigenous team a couple of weeks ago in the curtain raiser to the Swifts and GIANTS game.”
