Netball: Hawke's Bay scrapping intermediate rep grades

Year 7-8 players will come under the umbrella of development programmes after their age-group rep teams will be scrapped. Photo/supplied

Hawke's Bay Netball will discontinue representative teams for year 7 and 8 in accordance with a national drive.

The year 7 rep teams will be phased out next year with year 8 rep teams to follow suit in 2019.

The Netball NZ decision comes on the heels of a review of the state of the code.

The process involved a review of academic research, evidence and feedback from players, parents, medical/education experts and coaches.

Earlier in the year Sport New Zealand also released its "Balance is Better" philosophy which supports the findings from the review. The philosophy shines a light on developing athletes to realise their potential in sport and in life - focusing on athlete development as opposed to short-term performance.

Tina Arlidge, HB Netball operations manager, says the player development programmes will replace the teams.

"At Hawke's Bay Netball we endeavour to provide quality netball experiences for girls to enjoy netball for life, and this is a step in the right direction," Arlidge says of the programmes which aim to enhance movement skills, physical capacity, tactical awareness and understanding the game.

Mark Aspden, Sport Hawke's Bay chief executive, believes the change is a positive move.

"There is a myth that specialising early and achieving childhood success in sport translates to adult success. Children develop at different rates and some develop much later," Aspden says.

"We're seeing situations where young people are suffering serious long-lasting injuries from over-training and from specialising in one sport from too young an age. We applaud this move from netball and hope other sports watch with interest."

Last year, netball was the top participation sport in New Zealand, at secondary school level, with 29,257 participants. Rugby followed with 27,261 participants (NZSSSC census).

Bay secondary schools have mirrored the national trend for the past three years.