Beach netball popular again

AERIAL COLLISION: Lisa Basford (left) and Liana Akroyd contest a high ball on the sand.

BEACH netball has been under way again for a couple of weeks on the sand track alongside Churchill Park, and Gisborne Netball Centre manager Allisa Hall says the players are having a lot of fun.

The netball centre piloted the competition last summer and was the first centre to run a beach netball league in New Zealand.

“We had 12 teams and about 90 players last summer,” Hall said.

“The players loved it so much they just wanted more.

“This summer we have 17 teams with about 140 players registered, so the popularity has risen again.”

The games are played in two eight-minute halves.

“We have five rounds of games each week.”

The competition started on January 23 and will run until March 6, every Tuesday, except Waitangi Day.

Games start at 5.30pm.

“The teams are mixed, so you have men playing alongside women, and there is the thrill of three-point goals for shots scored from outside the goal area,” Hall said.

“It has been a fun start to the competition and the centre is rapt with the level of support for it.”