The inaugural Australian Netball Championships will land in Traralgon this August, launching a new-look pathway competition for emerging national talent.
"I'm really excited. I can't wait to head to the tournament and more importantly, start the campaign with the Capital Darters," Parr said.
"We haven't had a tournament for over two years, and with the new structured competition, I think it's a perfect opportunity to highlight the excellent talent, skill and depth of athletes from the ACT in a national campaign."
As a former Darter, and the Assistant Coach for the NSW U19s State team in 2020, Parr has plenty of experience driving her to succeed.
"The fact that I've been a former Darter myself and been able to wear that dress is quite important to me, and hopefully important to the athlete group as well," the Darters Coach said.
"Being able to identify with that and have the knowledge of the history and show the athletes you know how proud you can be when you go out into that national environment is important.
"It's crucial that grassroots athletes in our clubs and community can see that there is a pathway that is local. It's within the territory, and that they can work to achieve those selection stages, and then hopefully come through and become a Darter one day."
Netball ACT's High Performance Manager Kate Carpenter says Netball ACT is excited about the impact that Marji will make to the 2022 Capital Darters campaign.
"Marji has an impressive playing career as a former Fijian international competing in two World Cups. She has progressed through the Netball NSW coaching pathway, now an elite coach, coaching at Opens Level in the NNSW Origin Energy Premier League," Carpenter said.
"As a highly experienced, knowledgeable and engaging coach Marji will be able to draw on her existing connections within the ACT community."
The event will be the first of its kind after being postponed in 2020 and 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic and replaces the Australian Netball League to provide a key transition pathway for athletes to the world’s best netball league, the Suncorp Super Netball League.
The confirmed teams that will compete alongside the Capital Darters in the inaugural championships include the Collingwood Magpies, Tasmania, Queensland Sapphires, Victorian Fury, Giants Academy, QBE Swifts Academy, West Coast Fever Reserves, Sunshine Coast Lightning and Southern Force.
Read more about the Australian National Championships here.
