Abau to make maiden appearance at netball champs

ABAU Netball Association are set to make their maiden appearance at this week’s national championships in Goroka.
Association president Margaret Simon said they were looking forward to the tournament, which starts tomorrow.
“The association was established in 2016 under the Central Netball Association but this year, we organised ourselves and now we’re a separate organisation,” she said.
“We have six teams — two sides each in the ‘A’ and ‘B’ grades, and one each in the masters and Under-21s. Most of our players are from Abau but reside in the National Capital District.
“We are fortunate that our local MP Sir Puka Temu has come in a big way to meet all our expenses to attend the championships.
“We are proud of Sir Puka who has confidence in us to promote and encourage gender equality for our women and girls to attend the championships.
“This is our first attendance so all the players and officials are excited to go there and put up a good fight against tournament favourites Port Moresby, Alotau and Lae.”
Simon said former PNG Pepes head coach Ani Iamo was managing their A-grade Team One, and Kiri Francis and Geno Tae taking care of Team Two.
Former Pepe Rayleen Andrew and her two younger siblings Isabella and Waisame, who represented PNG at the recent Pacific Games in Apia, Samoa, have linked up with their district of origin.
Rayleen told The National that their reason to join Abau was to help the players and also promote and the game at the grassroots level.
“Abau is where we’re from and we are looking forward to play alongside our fellow villagers.”