LEETON'S Ruby Miller is adhering to a busy training schedule as she prepares for the Australian Deaf Games.
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To be held in Newcastle from January 13 to January 20, Ruby will be representing in a number of sports.
She will be playing with the NSW ladies netball side after being selected to do so. Ruby is the only country player in the team and it is believed she will be the youngest player in what is an opens side.
"Training is in Sydney, so I've been travelling up for that in the lead up ... to be selected I had to send photos, videos of me playing and my coaches had to contact them as well," Ruby said.
"When trials were on I had my appendix out, so that's why it was done that way. I was pretty excited when I found out I had been selected. I'll most likely be playing in defence."
Teams from each state will be competing, but this year the Australian Deaf Games are expanding to include athletes and sides from Pacific nations.
This means Ruby will also play sides from places such as Fiji and New Zealand.
It has been a busy sporting year for Ruby, earlier this year she was also selected as an umpire at the All Schools Australia National Netball Championships, as well as at the Combined High Schools Tri-Series in Sydney.
The games also feature many other sports and Ruby has also qualified to represent in swimming and athletics.
"I'm also going to be swimming with the NSW teams for swimming and athletics, so it's going to be pretty busy," Ruby said.
"Netball is over three or four days, with swimming and athletics at night time. So swimming is from 5pm to 8pm and athletics is on a different day to that.
"I'm looking forward to seeing how I go. It will be pretty busy." To help prepare for the games, Ruby has been making sure she keeps up with her training.
She trains with the Leeton Yanco Amateur Swimming Club, as well as going for runs and sticking to her regular fitness routine so she is strong and healthy for the competition.
Ruby said she was looking forward to the experience and was pleased to see the games growing and providing a place for those with hearing difficulties.
"I think it's going to be a really great experience," she said.
The Australian Deaf Games is the pinnacle multi-sport event for deaf people in Australia involving many sports and attracting more than 1000 competitors.
