So let's hear it from the woman herself although, she hastens to add, she doesn't want to come across as egotistical.
"I'm told I'm quick but I can be quicker," says the mother of three who is a front-of-office supervisor of a health food supplement business in Napier.
The Putaruru-born netballer used to play for Napier Technical in the senior two grade when she arrived here in late 2009.
During that tenure it was common for her to hear people remark on how she belonged in the Super 6 arena.
Mothers often brought their daughters along to take photos with Thompson after senior two games.
"I'm quite loyal to friends," says Thompson, who was content to hang out with friend Connie Crystal at Napier Tech.
It was at the HB senior women's trials last August that defence specialist Barham spotted Thompson.
As luck would have it, Crystal was good friends with Barham so when she switched allegiances to All In Thompson followed and thus began the education of Thompson.
For the player who "likes to hunt that ball", Thompson doesn't know what she's capable of so "to have a ball in my hand now it's just crazy".
"I'm told I'm quick but I can be quicker," she says, suspecting she needs to pack in a bit more courage and trust herself at the higher echelon.
"It's all new for me so it's good experience because I'm just coming out of my shell more."
Her innate sense of competitiveness drives her through a journey of self-discovery where diligence lets her cope with raising a family, working, playing netball and training with weights on the side.
"It's pretty cool. I love it at this level. The intensity is there and it pushes me to my limits."
Thompson is mindful that Super 6 contenders don't know her so she's a "secret weapon" for All In.
"I have lots to offer but I'm just getting my confidence right now. I like to see the whole court. I don't know my timing. I suppose I just play the game."
She stands at 1.75m, hardly the physical portfolio that causes a stir in netball-dom to counter rangy shooters but that doesn't faze her in the slightest.
"It's not about height actually. It's about how you play. It's about how you move, when you move and jump," she says, lending credence to Barham's assertion that Thompson averages four intercepts in a quarter.
The work ethic goes back to the family of a small-town girl whose parents toiled to nurture five daughters and two sons.
Her father supported her through sport in high school, where she was open to any code, including rugby, netball, tennis and interschool athletics.
But life had other plans for the girl who showed promise in netball from the age of 6.
"I got pregnant when I was 15," says Thompson, who was at the cusp of going on a tour of Australia with the Putaruru Senior A netball team.
She harbours no regrets in having her son although she suddenly had to adapt to switch lanes in the rush hour of life.
"Mentally I had to grow up pretty quickly but I had a lot of support because I was a solo mum for a few years.
"Mum took care of my son but as soon as I knocked off school I was mother."
At 17 she moved to the Coromandel Peninsula, where she played netball for Waihi premiers for a year.
"I did have some coaching that year but I don't think it was enough.
"I didn't learn anything off anything until I started working with Reece [Barham]."
Thompson has embraced her three months of tuition under All In co-coaches Barham and Kane Makea.
She's heard a lot of comments about how much farther she could have gone had she kept continuity with netball from a younger age. But she's in a happy place, content with life and enjoying the now while her partner supports her.
"Who knows I might be trialling for development teams or something," she says when asked how far she wants to take the game.
"If the opportunity arises I'll take it and give it everything. With Reece behind me, I'm sure I will," she declares.
Rd 2 Super 6:
Draws for the matches at 7.15 tomorrow:
* PGA 1: All In Elusive v Havelock North Jazz Apples Kauri.
Umpires: P Castles & N Corbett.
* PGA 2: Hastings High School Old Girls' Proactive Huias v Central Sports Vet Services HB.
Umpires: D Thomas & K Ives.
* PGA 3: Outkast Optimise Physio v Otane Thirsty Whale.
Umpires: T Gardiner & H Lewis.
