Bathurst and all other associations are back for a shot at the titles after the competition was cancelled due to COVID-19 last year, and the girls in blue and gold are keen to showcase their skills in division two.

Under 17s coach Trish Williams has managed to retain several players from her 2019 15s side, and said those senior members have been excellent in mentoring the younger crew.

"I've got some young players who have stepped up through the season. I think a lot of the junior girls have raised their level of play to try and match the older girls in our team," she said.

"We've worked hard this year on our performance as a team, which requires positive feedback all the time on the court. I think my senior players have taught the junior players a lot of self-belief, and how to maintain a high level of positivity."

Bathurst finished a very commendable seventh out of 20 teams in the under 17s division two competition back in 2019.

Many of the top teams from that competition, such as Barellan, Inner Western Suburbs and Blacktown City, feature once again in this division.

Familiar Central West rival Orange joins the division two scene this season.

Williams said with the talent on hand in the Bathurst squad they have the potential to finish even higher than the 2019 side.

"COVID played a big part in us not attending carnivals and it's stipulated our conditions for training so that has been a bit of a challenge," she said.

"They're very motivated and excited to have a crack at this since there was no netball last year. Because there hasn't been a lot of carnivals for us it's difficult for us to know what to expect.

"We'd like to finish in the top five. We've got a set plan that we're going to try and stick to."

The under 15s also have regional rivals in their competition this weekend, like Orange, Dubbo and Blue Mountains.

Their coach Abby MacDonald has been very impressed by their efforts at district carnivals this season.

"We've got the exact same side as the one last year that wasn't able to go away. We're very lucky in that regard," she said.

"I'm really looking forward to seeing how they go and I'm very proud of their efforts this year at the carnivals. We haven't actually lost a game over our last three carnivals.

"We've played a couple of these teams already at those carnivals and that's given us some really good insights."

The games across both competitions start from 9.30am on Saturday.

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