Netball out to woo rural players

By KYMLIE KARANI
THE Papua New Guinea Netball Federation aims to take the game to the rural areas by improving participation through competitions.
That was one of the outcomes of the day-long second governance workshop held yesterday at the Paddy’s Hotel conference room.
In attendance were council members from netball associations from Lae, Alotau, Manus, Motu Koita, Kairuku Hiri, Oro Country, Kerema, Madang and Western.
Under the Australian Government’s Pacific Netball Programme (PNP), coordinated through the Australian Sports Commission and implemented in conjunction with Netball Australia and Netball New Zealand, PNG netball is heading for bigger, better outcomes.
Facilitating the workshop was Netball Australia’s governance consultant Paul Grogan.
“It shows how passionate PNG women are for the sport,” Grogan said.
The workshop mainly focused on the best means and solutions PNG Netball should consider in reaching out to take the game to the grassroots level.
“Being the largest women participating sport, our main focus right now is mass participation,” PNG Netball president Julienne Leka-Maliaki, pictured, said.
“There are so many talented netballers out there in some of the most remote areas and PNG Netball is aiming to find a solution to that.”
Leka-Maliaki said the morning session of the workshop was mainly a brief run down on what was expected under the PNP programme, administration, good governance and structure wise.
The second session of the workshop saw different points and solutions made by members.
Concerns and issues were raised regarding factors that affect attempts to spread the code like geographical locations, logistics and mainly financial assistance.
Some delegates preferred district level competition, while others preferred playing at provincial level.
“After all, everyone has a say. They know what’s going on at the ends. All we need to do is get the services down to their level. In that way we can increase the number of women participating in the sport.”