Maitland has four teams spanning across all age groups from the under-12s to the under-15s, with each side contesting division two at Bankstown.

Kurri has three teams going away, their under-15s will compete in division two while their under-12s and under-13s sides will travel to Illawarra to challenge division four.

Maitland Netball Association president and under-15s coach Kim Starkey said it was great that the teams will all be together at the one location, with the under-14s side coming down from championship division after last year’s competition.

Starkey said the teams have had a strong lead-up to the championships compared to last year, with the 2015 April super storm wiping out a few carnival opportunities.

The weather this year has still played a bit of havoc though, with teams missing out on a Sydney carnival and getting three games into a tournament at Lakeside before it was washed out.

But Starkey said the opportunity to get a couple of games practice in the rain meant they were ready for any sort of weather the weekend could throw at them.

“All of the girls played really well in the wet,” she said.

“We’re prepared for rain, hail or shine.”

Speaking about her under-15s side, Starkey said they were aiming for a top 10 finish, and she expected the same across all teams.

“I think we’re all going to go down and be as competitive as possible,” she said.

Kurri Kurri’s under-12s and 13s got off to a hard start this year, both needing to pull extra players into their sides and some girls only starting the sport this year.

But club spokeswoman Jessica Stephens said all teams have built well over the season, putting in good training sessions and carnivals in the lead-up to the championships.

She expected the under-15s, which contains some under-14 players, to bring their experience to the competition and finish the tournament strongly.

The under-12s and 13s are aiming to challenge themselves and improve throughout the course of the weekend.

The State Age Championship competition takes on a new format this year.

In the under-12s and 13s divisions, each of the 15 teams will play each other once over two days, then the top eight face off against one another for positions on the last day while the bottom seven do the same.

More than 3,300 netballers from 309 teams representing 87 associations will take to the courts for the 48^th instalment of the NSW competition.