Continuing to be a popular drawcard, the Netball New Zealand U18 Champs has welcomed a bumper field to this year’s event which got underway at the Edgar Centre in Dunedin on Monday.
Hosted by the Dunedin Netball Centre, 38 teams are entered in the U18 female event. Running in conjunction, and building on the success of last year’s introduction of a male component, the U18 men’s division, which will be competing for its own trophy, has attracted six teams.
The 38 teams in the women’s competition have been split into six pools of five teams and two pools of four teams with play on Monday and Tuesday involving all teams playing a round robin in their respective pools.
Being played indoors for the first time and not having to battle the outdoor elements of wintry weather, the teams enjoyed being able to showcase their skillsets in front of the selectors in perfect conditions.
Playing 40-minute matches, all teams had two games apiece on the opening day, last year’s top-four of Wellington Black, Hamilton City, Waitakere 1 and Auckland 1 all coming through unscathed along with 11 other teams.
"It was a great first day and everyone’s loving being able to play inside,’’ Netball NZ Pathway Programs Manager Nicky Cattermoul said.
"All the first day scores have been pretty predictable, just based on the fact that it is the first day of competition and with that the seedings, where the top teams are playing the lower-ranked teams from last year.
"It is great that players can test themselves against others from all around the country while also getting the opportunity to play with different people other than their school teams.
"It’s good for their development to play with different people, against different styles and have different coaches than they might have from their school teams, so players are getting exposed to all sorts of different elements.’’
With the naming of the NZ U21 squad for next year’s World Youth Cup set to be named next week, NZ U21 head coach Julie Seymour and her assistant Te Aroha Keenan are in attendance along with New Zealand Secondary Schools coaches Pelesa Semu and Jo Morrison.
Players have plenty of opportunity to showcase their credentials with important squad selections on the horizon and the Emerging Talent Panel selectors also on hand to cast their eye over the talent of the future.
After the completion of pool play on Tuesday, all teams are re-ranked based on position within their respective pools and will then compete in post-pool play ahead of the Cup Round of 16 and quarter-finals on Wednesday.
Launched in 2021, the NNZ U18 Champs honour former Silver Ferns shooting great Margaret Forsyth, who passed away in 2021, with teams vying for the trophy which bears her name.
The six men’s teams will play each other in a round robin format ahead of semi-final matches on Wednesday afternoon.
Dannevirke and Waitakere set the early pace on the first day’s play for the men, both opening their accounts with a perfect return of two wins apiece.