Newly appointed President of the New Zealand Men’s and Mixed Netball Association Junior Tana is looking forward to building on momentum within the game.
Hailing from Christchurch, Tana has an extensive background with men’s and mixed netball both on and off court and takes over from David Pala’amo, who stepped down in December after almost 20 years in the role.
“It’s a privilege to be given the position as President of the NZMMNA. I have some big shoes to fill given David was in the role for nearly 20 years – he’s seen some awesome achievements in his time and some huge growth in the sport,” Tana said.
“The challenge is mine I guess to see where we can develop and grow, ensuring exposure is given to the high calibre players we have in our leagues and tournaments across the country.
“The Cadbury Netball Series has been an amazing fixture for men’s netball. It’s grown our exposure and allowed people who didn’t even know there were men playing netball here in our country to witness the skill and expertise men bring to the game.”
Tana said the NZMMNA would shortly begin a large piece of work around reviewing the governance structure and pathway to allow boys and men to stay in the sport for as long as they want to, along with creating closer partnerships with Netball New Zealand and Centres throughout the country.
We are hoping the sport will continue to grow and be supported to ensure we have funding and tournament opportunities to enable males of any age to choose netball as their first sport.”