Orienteering: Arabella Phillips dream waiting on COVID call

An orienteer for her "whole life", the 19-year-old achieved a longstanding dream earlier this year by making Australia's six-woman under-20s team for July's junior world championships in Turkey.

Australian athletes were informed before the announcement of the final squads that a green and gold team would not be sent to the championships due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

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The championships have since been moved to September, sparking some hope that an Australian team could participate, but Phillips says she is just happy to have finally made the team.

"I turn 20 this year, so it's my final year of being eligible for the team so I had to make it this year otherwise next year I go up to seniors and that will be a lot tougher to get in," Phillips said.

"It'll be a bit disappointing [if I don't] get to compete at an international competition, but it's been a goal of mine for a long time to just make the team so I'm really happy about that - it doesn't really bother me too much if we don't go."

A 400m bronze medallist in 2016's International Children's Games in Taiwan, Phillips qualified for the world championships following strong performances interstate.

After a selection round in Victoria, Phillips came third in her category at the Easter championships in New South Wales and repeated the performance at a trial in the same state the next week.

The former Norwood Primary, St Patrick's College and Launceston College student joined Hobart's Mikayla Cooper as the sole Tasmanian representatives for the championships.

"I've tried out for the Australian team a couple of times, but hadn't been quite at that level yet," Phillips said.

"I tried out last year and I was at a pretty good standard, but they didn't end up sending a team.

"I started [orienteering] when I was about three doing courses with my mum and I've kept doing it since then."

ELSEWHERE IN SPORT

Should the world championships not go ahead, Phillips will take solace in having a home turf advantage for the national championships between September 25 and October 3.

The sprint races will be held at the University of Tasmania's Newnham campus - where Phillips is in her second year of a primary education degree - with St Helens to host the remainder.

On-site training between lectures is off the table however, with locations and maps off-limits to competitors in the lead-up.

"All the maps are embargoed so that means we can't take a map or run there or anything," Phillips said.

"Since it's my last year in the women's 20 elite I want to do as well as I can in those, and also being in Tasmania it would be even better to go well here."

Phillips also works for Orienteering Tasmania and helps deliver the government's sporting schools program.