Netball PNG yet to pick national team for Mini Pacific Games

By PATRICIA KEAMO
NETBALL Papua New Guinea is yet to make selections for the national team, the Pepes, for next year’s Mini Pacific Games in the Northern Mariana Islands, says an official.
President Ulato Avei told The National that the federation was currently focused on reforming its competition structure.
“Our national championships have been cancelled due to the Coronavirus (Covid-19), so we are not doing selections just yet,” Avei said.
“We are reforming the competition structure as well as rules and regulations to create better player pathways to the national team, the Pepes.
“The focus is to have provincial teams compete in the national championships from, instead of district teams, as in the past. We have to restructure the competition to identify and develop the best players.”
Meanwhile, Netball PNG recently received assistance from the Australian Government’s Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Netball Australia to support the sport’s development in the country.
Last week, the federation advertised vacancies for the positions of chief executive and sports development manager to drive the sport’s development, including Team Up, One Netball PNG, Pacific Australia Sports and Pacific Women’s Sports Administration programmes.
“As soon as we complete the recruitment process, one of our plans is to discuss with them (successful applicants) our strategic plan going forward,” Avei said.