Young Pulse Defender Ready To Crack On
From prominent schoolgirl talent, Te Wānanga o Raukawa Pulse defender Parris Mason has successfully come out the other side to present as a top-notch performer at the elite level in the ANZ Premiership netball league.
In the Pulse system for five years, including going back to the National League for a season to hone her skills at goal defence after predominantly being a goalkeeper, the energetic Mason has unequivocally found her feet.
Whether hustling, intercepting, deflecting, rebounding or carting the ball up-court, Mason is ever-present as she continues to highlight the emergence of the next generation of talented young defenders.
Handed the starter's goal defence bib last season in her first year of getting solid minutes, the 22-year-old hasn't looked back, duly rewarded with a spot in the Silver Ferns, while also notching 50 games for the Pulse this season.
"I was so young when I played my first game," she said. "I was 18, fresh out of high school and my body was definitely not developed to be an ANZ level player at that point. There's been huge growth in both physical and mental aspects of my life and the journey's been incredible.
"I wouldn't change it for the world and I'm just stoked that I am at a place where I can compete at this level but also at the age of 18 to get that opportunity, I'll always be grateful for that as well."
The Taranaki sisterhood has played its part with Mason thriving in the presence of having indomitable captain Kelly Jackson at her side in the defensive circle.
"I always knew we were going to be able to get that connection going," Mason said. "There is something special between us, we're so much more connected than just netball….we're very grateful of our homes and appreciate our Taranaki upbringing so much, so I think that creates another bond off the court which just allows us to grow when we're on the court."
The pair work seamlessly off each other as part of an effective and smothering Pulse defensive wall. Historically, the team have employed a more Australian one-on-one style of defence which has served them well but often draws on-going comment of their physicality from some observers.
On that front, the statistics shed a lot of positive light. Currently, the Pulse sit in the bottom three teams for total number of penalties incurred, have just one player in the top 10 of the most penalised and are the best defensive team in the league.
"It's a hard stigma to go through when we're described as a very physical team," Mason said.
"I think every team throughout this level is actually very physical…... the game has become very physical. Over the years we have played a different style of netball compared to the other teams and from that respect we can be perceived as more physical because we are a lot more on the body.
"We are that `man-on' kind of grind team but it is unfair sometimes being labelled as the physical team when everyone out there is so physically capable to deal with the physicality.
"Every team is bringing that physicality at the moment and umpires are letting it go at the moment, so we'll just continue on. If that's how others perceive us, then that's not really going to faze us.
"We know our values as a team and we don't instinctively go out to be like that, we go out there to play our game-play and whether-or-not, that is deemed physical by others, that's not really our problem."
Bouncing back last week with an impressive win against the Stars, the Pulse have a difficult assignment when taking on the ever-improving Steel in Invercargill on Sunday.
"You're always going to play an eighth player on the court when you've got an Invercargill crowd behind them, so it's going to be a really hard time down there," Mason said. "They've been producing some really good performances and building their connections.
"We've just got to back ourselves when we go down there. We've got to be very internalised with how we stay connected as a team and make sure nothing is going to affect us once we get down there."
With her prospects continuing to soar, Mason's is firmly focused on putting her best foot forward while striving for more.
"Backing up your breakout year is always hard, so I just want to be able to produce a good 60 minutes week-in week-out and keep improving in all my basic foundations," she said.
"My main goal is to make sure I can retain my spot in the Silver Ferns squad which is going to come off working really hard this season and putting out performances that are being noticed."
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