Women, netball do us all proud

 THE Papua New Guinea Pepes have completed a solid year with impressive performances at the Pacific Netball Series in Samoa and the recently completed Nations Cup in Singapore.  

Under the coaching of Ani Iamo, backed in no small way by the netball hierarchy, the Pepes are be­ginning to look like the force they were in the 1990s and early 2000s. 

Ranked 18th in the world, PNG has played second fiddle to countries like Fiji, Samoa and the Cook Islands for too many years. 

That era looks to be coming to an end, or at the very least the signs are good that PNG is on the path to gaining parity with her neighbours. 

Netball remains one of the biggest female sports in PNG and by default is at the vanguard for promoting women across the sporting spectrum. 

Looking at this year’s national championships staged in Port Moresby, around 2,600 players from all four regions turned out to contest titles at age group, masters and senior levels.  There are few sports that can garner that kind of playing number at the one event, much less for the one gender. 

It cannot be denied that the Southern Region is at present the balance of netball power but given time and resources established centres like Lae, Madang and Kokopo could be title contenders. 

PNG Netball Federation pre­sident Julienne Leka-Maliaki says what we are seeing is some of the fruits of the more professional approach the administration has taken since 2012. 

“We’ve put in place better governance structures and we have a high performance programme that kicked in at the end of 2012 and has been running through this year and it has paid off with our national team doing well at the two international tournaments we’ve attended,” Leka-Maliaki said. 

The Pepes surprised many in the netball community by beating the Cook Islands and Samoa at the Pacific Netball Series in Apia, Samoa, earlier this year, finishing second to Fiji. 

In Singapore, PNG missed out on a place in the final of the Nations Cup because of a lower points differential. 

PNG had to settle for third place while Uganda, whom the Pepes drew 52-52 with in the round robin stage, went on to win the tournament beating hosts Singapore 52-29. 

The Pepes are no longer just making the numbers at tournaments; they are contenders to win them. 

“This was a good test for our younger squad members. Those Under-21s who were promoted to the senior side have really stood up. Kimberly Rawali, who made her debut was named PNG’s most valuable player at the Nations Cup.” 

Leka-Maliaki said this year was significant for other reasons. “Our national championship was the biggest one in six years. We had 1,500 juniors and 1,100 seniors involved. We’ve instituted a child protection policy on all PNG Netball-sanctioned competitions and events.” 

“We’ve had great support from the government through the Grassroots for Gold (G4G) programme which the PNG Olympic Committee has helped us to manage.”  

The corporate community, although not as prominent a backer as in some other codes has played a role.  

Perhaps the biggest compliment that can be bestowed on netball is that they are now on par, if not exceeding, other sports that have developed a reputation for great people and game management like cricket and AFL. 

Leka-Maliaki said all the efforts were geared towards not only the 2015 Pacific Games but the Netball World Cup on in the same year. “Things are looking very good for netball and if we continue on this path we will have success.” 

That would be a win all-round for women.