THE Wanganui representative team have struggled this week after drawing a tough pool at the 2015 Netball NZ U17 Championships in Mt Maunganui.
The tournament at Habourside Netball Centre in Mount Maunganui is Netball New Zealand's (NNZ) largest participation event on the calendar every year.
Wanganui drew Pool A, which included the classy AMI Auckland 1, Marlborough, Southland and Selwyn.
The four-day tournament includes 38 representative teams. The event is often the first opportunity for school-age players to come under the scrutiny of NNZ Emerging Talent selectors who closely watch each game.
On day one on Monday, Wanganui lost 43-31 to Marlborough and 53-31 to Southland. On Tuesday Wanganui beat Selwyn 43-25 in the morning then faced the mighty Aucklanders and lost 51-24.
Coach Parekura Muraahi said her side did not have the best preparations for the national age-group tournament after missing a key lead-up competition in Wellington because of the June floods.
"We then lost two key players to injury and only one of the two travelling reserves who had practised with the squad was able to make the trip," Muraahi said.
"We only arrived here with nine players and that's not ideal.
"Our mindsets were not quite right, either, and that told at the start of the tournament.
"We have picked up during the week, though, and that game against Auckland was fantastic. They are an extremely classy side and even being able to play them is a big thing for our girls.
"We did get well beaten, but we did finish with the lowest losing margin in our pool."
Muraahi said the girls continued improving and yesterday morning beat Nelson 32-27 in post-section play, but lost to Hawke's Bay 29-20 in the afternoon.
Last season the Wanganui U17 girls finished in 17th, position but today were set to play-off for 21st-24th against Thames Valley at 9am.