Mixed, men’s netball get okay

 THE Papua New Guinea Netball Board has endorsed the newly established PNG mixed and Men’s Netball Association to foster and develop inclusive gender participation in the game.

Innovation and inclusiveness is the game changer for the sport of Netball in PNG, if it is to be sustainable and attractive for netballers, the board says. 

The support is the beginning of this transformation which will give rise to equal participation opportunities for male and female players outside the mainstream high performance programme.

The association will be formalised as an associate member of PNG Netball at the council AGM in September 2016.

According to the president of PNG Netball Julienne Leka-Maliaki, they have reviewed their domestic competition structure which has remained the same for the last 30-odd years and it is time to lift the standard of the game in the country. 

The new look structure, to be released soon, will give rise to equal participation at all levels of the game including high performing athletes, school age athletes, community and national level participation.

New events will include a national netball league for high performing athletes, national schools programme, mixed netball, fast five netball, junior national titles and senior national titles.

The competition will start with a dedicated mixed competition due to start in March 2016 and will have three grades for all levels of players with different abilities. 

The premier league will cater for those teams that have above average skills who want a tough fought competition, social A grade for those teams who have the skills but like to have fun and social B grade for teams who a new to the game and want to have fun learning.

The inaugural competition will run for 15 weeks, twice a year

following International Mixed Rules and the association is looking to run this competition mid-week in the evenings to keep weekends free.

Season two will see the inclusion of a premier men’s league competition to coincide with the open selection trials for PNG’s first national men’s and mixed team to take part in the Australian Nationals in 2017. 

The association envisions expanding its membership to reach out to other key locations in PNG in the near future.

Volunteers interested to help with the running of the association including umpires who wish to develop their skills into the mixed and men’s game can contact the lead coordinator, Adam Parker at [email protected] for further information.