Barely out of her teens, Waisame Andrew will spearhead Papua New Guinea's quest for a spot at next year's Netball World Cup in Sydney.
Just 21, the PNG mid-courter is the mainstay of the Pepes after flying the national team's flag since she was 13.
"I wasn't into netball," she told AAP on Thursday.
"In 2015 they had a Pacific Games, so I was like, 'I think one day I will represent my country'''.
And so her journey began.
After playing in Brisbane and on the Gold Coast, Andrew is now competing for the Pepes at the Spirit Series in Sydney.
The friendly tournament comprising PNG, Fiji, Singapore and the Black Swans - Australia's First Nations netball team - is helping to prepare the teams for September's World Cup qualifying tournament in Tonga.
The top two teams there from the likes of Fiji, the Cook Islands, Tonga and Samoa, will represent Oceania at the World Cup.
But it's a harder challenge than envisaged, as PNG coach Lua Rikis explains.
"This is a bunch of new girls that we brought from home, only a few in the squad have had exposure," said Rikis, who played at the 1999 World Cup.
"We have different girls coming from different cultures, different villages, different languages.
"For us, it's the love of the sport ... most of the girls, I know them, I've watched them grow up ... and most of them play in local competitions that I'm a part of.
"We come together and then try to make it work for our team, so I think that's the beauty (of it)."
But the Pepes will face a stiff challenge against the likes of Fiji (sixth at the 1999 World Cup), Samoa (sixth, 2003 and ninth,1995) and Cook Islands (seventh, 2007) for a World Cup spot.
After falling 96-25 to a merciless Black Swans side on Wednesday in the Spirit Series, the team managed to stem the bleeding in a 53-28 loss to Asian representatives Singapore.
"Yesterday was a bit tough, but we keep going," Andrew, now a battle-hardened leader, said.
"We were supporting each other, encouraging each other.
"We have four debutants here. It's their first time travelling and playing at an international level, so it's a bit difficult to gain that confidence.
"As a player who has played a lot we have to encourage them to look forward to the World Cup, to gain more experience when we go back home and to come back strong again."
A dominant 61-35 win against the Fiji Pearls cleared the Black Swans' path to a Spirit Series final on Saturday, with PNG hoping to secure third place.
