Commitment reward for Tararua College student Abby Treder

Abby Treder, front right, with the Coastal Challengers who won their tournament the previous weekend.

Tararua College student Abby Treder, 15, has realised her ambitions in being selected for the Manawatu senior women's representative team and numerous Central Districts' teams.

"Playing cricket is the sport I have the most passion for," said Abby, who started playing Bush Cricket at Year 6 (five years ago.)

She comes from a strong sporting background as an Under 15s Rep Hockey player and played in Rep Cricket Tournaments for Central Districts Under 15s along with Manawatu Under 15s and Under 13s, taking out the Title of Top Batter, top fielder and MVP for the Under 15 Tournament.

In squash, Abby has made it into the Central Juniors, playing in the winning Tararua Squash C Grade super champs team two years in a row and plays basketball for Tararua College.

As well as making the Manawatu Senior Women's team recently, she has just been selected in the Central Districts' Franchise Team, selected from women from the Central Districts, which goes from New Plymouth down to Nelson and across to the Hawke's Bay. There are eight regions in the Central Districts area.

Abby is in the Coastal Challengers Team with White Ferns and Central Districts players Hannah Rowe (White Fern) and Lauren Down, playing in a four-team competition, which was played in the weekend with the Coastal Challengers winning the tournament, with Abby top run-scoring with 70 not out hitting 11 fours and one 6.

She received MVP for that game and third overall MVP which is a huge success with playing against White Ferns and several Central Hinds.

Abby is unique in playing cricket for the Tararua College First XI Boys' Cricket Team and is the only female member of the team. She is also in the Tararua College Girls Cricket Team.

Also playing for the United Club in Palmerston North, she won Batter of the Year and Junior Player of the year. For the Under 15s Manawatu team Abby won Player of the Year and Top Batter, for the Overall Manawatu Women's club teams Abby won Batter of the year, MVP and T20 player of the year.

Abby is a good all-rounder, with her speciality being batting, where she has top-scored 95 runs in club cricket. While playing in an Under 15s Tournament last year, Abby scored a huge 40 fours over five games with a total of 196 runs. When fielding, she is able to bowl (off-spinner) or wicket-keep.

Travelling is a big part of Abby's week, usually going over to Manawatu every five out of seven days. Her training on top of the travel time is 1.5 hours on a Monday night, 3.5 hours on Tuesday night, 2 hours on Wednesday night, 1 hour on Friday, 8.30am-5pm on Saturday and Sunday from 11am-5pm. This is a huge commitment to the sport.

"Abby is pretty young to be making a senior side, probably more so with the franchise team she's just made," said her mother Ceri. "She has also just made the Manawatu Under 18s team Cricket team.

"She also got selected for the Central Districts Under 17 camp over a weekend in the school holidays. She went to Christchurch on a cricket tour for Manawatu Women's Development Side and came straight back for an Under 15 hockey tournament, then onto the Central Districts' Under 17 camp.

"Abby has been selected for a Central Districts Under 19s training Squad - the final team will be picked from this squad. Coaching has been a bonus for Abby as she has four very good coaches."

Dilan Raj is the main coach/mentor, he is the director of cricket for Manawatu. Jess Watkins is a Central Hind and a White Fern. George Atkinson is a Central Hind. Gregg Codyre is Manawatu Women's coach, along with having Jamie Watkins coaching her for the Under 17 Under 19 Training Camps.

Abby has several games coming up over the season with the Manawatu Women Under 18s Tournament in December, another Central Districts Super League tournament in February, so a very busy season for her

Abby's next ambition is to be selected for the Central Districts' Under 19 team and go down South with them in January.