Siblings showcase skills at nationals

Two Hedland siblings have showcased their talent at the national softball championships after being selected for State teams last month.

Mackayla, 16 and Kade Denney, 14, have made their family proud after being selected for the under-19s women’s and under- 15s boys’ team respectively.

Their teams were among nine WA sides which played in the national championships in various States.

The Denney kids have already played State softball for several years, with their family having last year moved down to Perth to support their development in the sport.

Proud mum Rachael Green said the kids had grown up being exposed to sport and often it could be hard living regionally.

“Perth kids train almost every day together — we pushed Mackayla to get to the oval every day to better her skills,” she said.

“Unfortunately the other girls all train together and knew each other’s skills and she missed out showing her skills in previous years.

“It did challenge Mackayla in the past, but this year has really been rewarding for her to see her play 10 out of the 11 games at the State championship.”

For Mackayla, it is her first time playing at the women’s State level and she hopes to play on the Australian team one day.

Young Kade has made his second appearance in the State team and said he was happy with his batting average.

He said he was excited to play finals for his local team.