EIGHT.

The number of hours the average person sleeps.

The number of training sessions in a week for an elite athlete.

The number of premierships the Magpies won in 2023.

Narre Warren Football Netball Club won eight titles from Under 15s to Premier Division A-grade in netball for the AFL Outer East.

Piuti Laban was lucky enough to be a key cog in one of those playing in Premier B-grade. The young goaler shot 26 goals in their grand final victory over Mount Evelyn and shot 460 goals across the 2023 season. She made three appearances in their A-grade side who also took home a flag.

Laban vocalised how proud she was to be a part of the historical day, showing how resilient the club was in their premiership glory.

“I was really proud to be a part of that club, especially when everyone won the premierships, just showing all the hard work that everyone has been doing throughout the season,” she said.

“It really showed how great of a club Narre Warren is and just such a great family environment, as well as all the young girls coming up to play in B-grade, A-grade and just filling in.

Laban went on to take home Narre Warren’s B-grade best and fairest and will be elevated into their A-grade side going into the 2024 season.

Growing up with an extremely supportive family, Laban has always believed she had a great childhood growing up being surrounded by family and friends committed to her aspirations.

“They’re sacrificed a lot for me, I’m truly grateful,” Laban said.

Laban’s idol, her dad. George is the backbone of her netball career, and her mum Sharlene supports her the whole way.

“I really looked up to my dad, he was a sports athlete himself growing up in a professional environment.”

“Just learning from his experiences and what he has told me from what he’s been through really helped me grow into the athlete that I am and the person I am outside of the netball court and yeah, that just really helps me grow.”

Laban began her netball career at seven-years-old, finding an immediate passion for the game.

Ever since moving to Australia from New Zealand in 2014, the overall Australian environment has worked wonders for her. Door after door has opened, quickly pushing her up the Netball Victoria pathway.

Starting out at South East Melbourne Netball Club, Laban would travel down to her local courts every Saturday morning to play the game she loved with her friends.

Sighting her talent at just 11-years-old, Casey Netball Association brought her in and built up her skills to develop her game into a high level with eyes on the future.

“[Casey] really helped shape my journey to where I am now and just going into their VNL pathway as well, which really opened up so many doors for me, especially in the state teams,” she said.

“Being able to gain my confidence from the rep tournaments, rep games, to then trialling for the state teams, it really helped me go through the SSV all the way through Netball Victoria.”

It was a quick jump playing representative level netball with Casey to their VNL Demons side, but Laban had confidence in her ability to adapt to the new but familiar environment.

Knowing she would be amongst some more experienced players, Laban made use of her resources going through Casey’s pathway system and made the most of her opportunities out on court.

“Being a very young player in the VNL environment was really hard and slow going in, but I was able to get through it,” she said.

The 16-year-old is experiencing déjà vu going from a bottom-age player in 2022 to again a bottom-age player in the newly developed Under 23s division.

“Now that I’ve gotten myself in the VNL environment and have had that experience, I’ve been able to know more people and just been able to surround myself around great coaches,” she said.

“New girls who also will be thinking the same thing as me who are pretty young in our new team.”

Whenever feeling a sense of doubt in her ability, Laban remembers how hard she’s worked to get herself to her current position. 

Representing her school of Caulfield Grammar, Laban was selected to play for School Sport Victoria (SSV). She was quickly appointed captain of the Under 15s side, but she felt nothing but joy to be able to play for her school, state, family and herself.

It’s hard to be disappointed in her performance as Laban won the Amy Safe award that year, and was the only Victorian selection in the Australian side that year. 

“Winning the Amy Safe award really helped me believe that even when you don’t get the end result, your hard work gets recognised,” she said.

“It helped my confidence knowing you can do well in a tournament and still want to strive for greatness.”

Her SSV campaign changed something in Laban, for the better. She strengthened her game physically and mentally, proving she belonged in the state system and pushed for national selection.

Reflecting on the tournament, her confidence skyrocketed and she hasn’t looked back since.

“I know I can believe in myself to continue with my netball making anything possible,” she said.

“Even if a game or the leader board doesn’t go your way, it just shows that if you just keep going, not to give up, everything will fall into place.”

For now, the future sport psychologist has her eyes firmly on the final Under 17s state squad to be selected in the near future. A member of the team in 2023, the side finished the tournament fourth, but several athletes were exposed to the culture of elite netball.

Wanting to experience the atmosphere again, Laban has determination to wear the navy dress again.

“That’s what I’ve been training towards, that’s what I’ve been looking forward to,” she said.