SHONA O’Dwyer is looking forward to strutting her stuff with her teammates when they take on the best young netball sides in the country this weekend.

The 15-year-old Lydiard Park Academy pupil plays for Hucclecote, a club based four miles east of Gloucester.

Hucclecote qualified for the national finals being staged at Northumbria University in Newcastle, with the winner being crowned the country’s best under 16s side.

O’Dwyer plays centre in the team that advanced through both county and south west qualifiers to get to this stage, and she cannot wait to get started in the initial group stage against Huddersfield Giants and Oldham.

“I’m really excited to play in the tournament and also quite nervous - I definitely have butterflies,” said O’Dwyer, also a talented hockey player.

“We’re not really too sure how we will get on, but I’m confident in the team and we have had some good results recently.

“I think it would be nice to win a lot of games, but I’m not sure about the other teams.

“I’m looking forward to seeing my friends there and we’re just going to enjoy it.”

After winning the Gloucestershire county competition, Hucclecote automatically advanced into the south region of south west qualifiers.

As one of the top two teams in that group, they progressed to finals day in Plymouth, where they faced West Exe, Jersey and Cornwall Saints.

O’Dwyer played 11 of the 12 quarters and helped her team defeat tough opposition in West Exe and Jersey, before a loss to Cornwall left them in runners-up spot, but that was still good enough to make it to nationals.

Some 18 teams will take part in the competition, a winner and runner-up from each of the nine regions. Teams go through three group stages before the knockout stages commence.

Matches start at 9am and do not finish until 7pm, a hectic schedule that would put some off.

However, O’Dwyer says she and her teammates are ready to play more than once a day as they have past experience.

“At the regional play-offs we played three matches in one day so we’re kind of used to it,” she said.

Shona is from a sporty family and plays hockey for North Wilts, but says netball is her number one focus.