Junior netballers, Year 3-6, start their games on May 17, with Year 1s and 2s now playing indoors in Springvale Stadium on Wednesday afternoons beginning May 21.
The David Jones Premier competition starts on Monday, May 12 also in the stadium.
After winning last year’s Premier 3 competition and then the promotion/relegation game, Waimarino Netball will now feature in this competition as well, which is an exciting addition, with several of their players coming from Ruapehu College.
The rep netball season is also upon us, with tournaments beginning King’s Birthday weekend and continuing through to mid-July.
Trials for under-14, under-16 and under-18 age groups are being held this coming Sunday at Laird Park, from 2-4pm.
We are very fortunate to have a number of very committed coaches ready to share their knowledge and nurture our talented young players.
A development programme will also be offered, in support of our rep programme, further developing skills and game development.
Teams will attend tournaments at a range of centres throughout the Lower North Island.
Under-14 and 16 teams finish the season with the North Island Champs in New Plymouth in July while our under-18s attend nationals in Waitākere the following week.
The rep programme gives our players an opportunity to play at a higher level of netball, and with the support of Central Netball and Netball NZ, this begins the players’ pathway ultimately to the Silver Ferns.
Netball Whanganui offer development opportunities for players, coaches, umpires and bench officials.
With stage one of the courts resurfacing project complete, we move into stage two, which involves an upgrade of lighting and poles.
This needs to be done before the remaining courts are resurfaced.
This project will be under way shortly, with the support of funding from the Four Regions Trust.
Netball Whanganui are very grateful to receive donations at our gate on a Saturday to go toward this huge project.
As a registered charity we rely on the generosity of funders and sponsors to help cover the costs of running the country’s most popular women’s sport.
Last year, we were very excited to introduce a mixed grade to our netball competition, providing opportunity for boys to enjoy our game.
Five secondary school teams participated last season, with seven registered so far for this season.
The long-term goal is to see an all-boys grade in our competition and be able to select representative boys’ teams from here.
Huge thanks as always, must go to our volunteer coaches, umpires, managers, bench officials, umpire coaches and committee who give so generously of their time, and enable our sport to continue thriving.
Information for all of these opportunities is available on our website at netballwhanganui.co.nz.
