Tough year for netball

The National Sports

By HENRY MORABANG
THE downturn in the economy and national elections have greatly affected the domestic netball competition across the country, according to Netball PNG president Julienne Leka-Maliaki
“The last 12 months have been a challenge for the board to implement its three-year strategic plan as the entire population and economy focused on and/or reacted to events around the national elections,” she said.“
This impacted on our membership as 60 per cent of our members did not run their annual competitions, thus the Netball PNG board had to defer this year’s annual general meeting and national championships.”
However, Leka-Maliaki said despite the disruptions and challenges, the board was able to achieve a number of milestones, including the Pepes recent success at the Pacific Mini Games where they won the gold medal for the first time in the regional rivalry.
The other milestone was the rollout of the Netball PNG-WaterAid PNG partnership programme across the members.
These achievements, especially the Pepes recent performance, had inspired all netballers across the country to persevere and progress the sport with renewed energy and passion in 2018, Leka-Maliaki said.
She said: “2018 is going to be a very busy and exciting year for netball in PNG as we undertake a number of key priorities including:-

  • Preparing a strong team to participate at the 2018 World Cup qualifiers in Auckland, New Zealand;
  • Implementation of Netball PNG’s player development programme;
  •  Reviewing and implementing the umpiring and coaching accreditation framework;
  • Continued delivery of the leadership and governance programme across the members;
  •  The hosting of the annual netball championships and annual general meeting;
  •  The launch of Netball PNG’s schools programme and netball super league;
  •  Formulation and launch of the next three-year strategic plan 2019-2021; and
  • Identification and securing of strategic partnerships to delivering Netball PNG programmes and activities in 2018 and beyond.
    Leka-Maliaki, on behalf the board, also thanked Netball PNG’s strategic partners and stakeholders in 2017 including the PNG Olympic Committee, the PNG Sports Foundation, WaterAid PNG, Water PNG.