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8 months ago

NetballSmart partner with NZ Open Champs

NetballSmart is excited to announce their principal partnership of the Netball NZ Open Champs which will be held in Dunedin from September 5-9. 

Guided by vastly experienced physiotherapist Sharon Kearney, who has dedicated much of her work to educating and implementing the appropriate tools for enhancing injury prevention, the NetballSmart programme (supported by ACC) is widely utilised throughout New Zealand in assisting Centres, coaches, players, schools and clubs to develop smart netball strategies to improve performance and decrease injury risk. 

The NetballSmart team are continually engaging with the netball community through schools, clubs and Netball Centre visits, running workshops while delivering mechanisms for players and coaches alike to minimise injury risk of players and umpires. 

While being a strong activations partner at other Netball NZ national championships, including the Under 18s and the National Secondary Schools, the statistics are telling us that the more mature players are prone to injury and the costs are high to both the player and ACC. A principal partnership has been pursued in order to help prevent injury and educate our netball participants.  

Signing on until November 2025, the NetballSmart involvement in the Netball NZ Open Champs couldn’t provide a better platform. 

"This is a perfect fit for us and we’re delighted to be involved," Kearney said.

"What better way to get the message across of our NetballSmart philosophy than at a national event. This is a win-win for all involved."

Replacing the former Netball NZ U19 and U17 national events, the inaugural Netball NZ Open Champs were set to be unveiled in 2020 but because of the on-going effects of Covid-19 were cancelled for two years before finally launching last year. 

The first edition proved highly successful, with a mixture of experienced players and up-and-coming talent featuring across many of the teams. Teams compete for the famous New Zealand Cup which has been an integral part of the Netball NZ calendar since 1926.
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