Talent in netball

THE Central netball tournament that is currently underway began with the senior matches yesterday at the packed Rita Flynn Courts in Port Moresby with the top teams set for the final playoffs tomorrow.
PNG Netball Federation secretary Julienne Maliaki said from watching the tournament, Central, including the Southern region, had a lot of girls who had possessed abundant raw talents physically and mentally and had advantages in all departments.
“Just from looking at the performance of the U21 sides, their games have definitely been lifted with high standards displayed,” she said.
She added that without doubt they could easily make their way into the national training squads,” Maliaki said.
She added that all they needed was to be groomed for six months to be at their peak.
“There is a lot of potential in the girls and the standard they have shown is much higher than some national tournaments,” she added.
Maliaki said that villages should support their girls with the sport and encourage more girls to take part in such tournaments.
Central Netball Association president Iamo Launa was pleased with the outcome of the junior events that ran from Sunday till Tuesday.
She lauded the amount of time the teams had put into improving themselves before attending the tournament.
She said that the PNG Sports Foundation had run administrative and coaching clinics in Abau recently and it was evident that their teams had shown vast improvement.
“Officials have already selected a junior team for the netball championships in Madang in September,” Iamo said.