A new wave of teenaged talent, accompanied by an excited buzz of anticipation, took centre stage when the FUJIFILM Business Innovation NZ Secondary Schools Netball Champs got underway in Porirua on Tuesday.
With the tournament being the pinnacle event for the cream of New Zealand’s secondary school talent, many students missed out on the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity when Covid-19 forced its cancellation over the past two years.
With 16 teams qualifying for the national champs through three regional events, five teams made short work of the opening day’s competition to post two wins from their two games and ensure their progress.
Columba College, coached by former Southern Steel assistant Lauren Piebenga, provided the talking point of the day when holding out a determined Manukura. It was the second loss for the highly-rated Manukura and subsequently had them tumbling out of contention.
St Margaret’s, the top qualifiers from the South Island, were given a decent workout by a gallant Howick College before a staunch second half helped them remain unbeaten.
Goal shoot Te Ata Hassan was a standout for St Margaret’s where her smart play, great movement and accuracy were prominent features throughout.
“I think the fitness started to show through there in the third quarter, in particular, and the hard yards they’ve done back home certainly seemed to be there, and just sticking to their structures was really important for us,’’ St Margaret’s College coach Helen Belcher said.
“That was a really good one to get through. That was a measure of where we might be at, so being able to do that against them is a good result for us, they’re a very good team.’’
Pleased to notch up two straight wins, the emphasis for Saint Kentigern coach Natalie Milicich was giving all her players time on court in preparation for what lies ahead.
“We’ve tried lots of different combinations in our two games, so that by the end of the week we know we’ve got plan B up our sleeves,’’ she said.
“We got all 12 players on in each game, so it’s been really nice to have a look at what we’ve got and say we’re building quite nicely when we’ve got options and we’re heading into the business end of the week.’’
The tournament consists of six schools from the Upper North Island and five each from the Lower North Island and South Island.
“It’s fantastic this tournament is back up and running again,’’ Milicich said. “It’s hard to explain how good it is to have a tournament like this. There’s just so much young talent out there and it’s really nice that we’ve got everyone here together.
“So, it’s important that the players take that opportunity to play some really good netball, and so far, that’s what we’re seeing.’’