As excited as Aimee Longhurst is for this season's Cricket Australia Under 15 Female National Championships, there's a sense of disappointment for the multi-sport star.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Longhurst is someone accustomed to playing on the representative stage, with her efforts on the cricket field matched by her achievements on the football pitch.
She'll represent ACT/NSW Country for the first time in Canberra next year at the national championships, but at this stage she won't be able to give it her all in the nation's capital.
The opening bowler is currently battling a stress fracture in her back, an injury which flared after she represented NSW Country in football's National Youth Championships.
"I got through about a month of straight soccer and came out with a stress fracture to the L4," a frustrated Longhurst said.
"There's lots of rehab and a lot of strength and conditioning, and technique work."
The latest scan on Longhurst's back came back positive and the young seamer is tentatively on track to start bowling early in the new year before the championships begin in late February.
READ ALSO:
While the injury has come at an unfortunate time, something Longhurst can't be upset about is the year she's had.
A prominent name in sporting circles for much of her junior career, Longhurst has gone to another level in 2019.
As well as representing NSW Country she was also part of Football NSW squad which toured France at the same time FIFA Women's World Cup was being contested.
Those achievements already made 2019 one to remember for the teenager, but representative cricket selection and chance to further her game in that sport has proved the cherry on top.
"I've been enjoying it very much," she said.
"I'm very appreciative of all the people who have helped me and I'm just enjoying the fact I've been so fortunate enough to be in all these teams."
While Longhurst's progress in football has been simple to track - she's gone from the local level to the former Western Mariners and beyond - it's been a little more difficult to make an impact in cricket.
With no female junior teams her and representative sides far less common, Longhurst was also boosted by a number of recommendations from the local association when pushing for selection in the ACT/NSW Country 15s side.
Longhurst, and her mother Katie, were eager to thank the likes of Jon Fuller, Glenn Shepherd, and Greg Rummans for helping in that regard.
"It's very exciting," Macquarie junior Longhurst said.
"Just getting the opportunity to play with other girls rather than a boys' team, it's great and I love it."
The injury has meant Longhurst had had more time to focus on batting and she said gaining more confidence at the crease is the goal in the coming months.
The under 15 national championships run in late February and early March at Canberra next year.