With the more favoured teams prevailing, the first day of play at the 2023 Celebration Box Netball NZ U18 Champs got underway in seamless fashion in Hamilton on Monday.
Hosted by the Hamilton City Netball Centre, the popular event has this year welcomed 34 teams to the U18 female grade while a new U17 men’s division has been included for the first time in netball history with seven male teams competing for their own trophy.
The 34 teams in the women’s competition have been split into two pools of five teams and six pools of four teams with play on Monday and Tuesday involving all teams playing each other in their respective pools.
With some teams playing just the one game on today’s opening day and others having two games, the main feature was the more fancied teams coming through untroubled. Seven teams – Auckland 1, Auckland 2, Waitakere 1, Howick Pakuranga, Eastern Waikato, Hamilton City A and Wellington A Black – set the early pace with all posting two comfortable wins.
Played outdoors, intermittent rain did not cause any adverse disruption with all teams able to complete their opening day matches unscathed.
"It was a day of four seasons but the rain that did come during several matches wasn’t hugely disruptive,’’ Netball NZ Pathway Programs Manager Nicky Cattermoul said.
Cattermoul is on hand at the event with NNZ’s panel of Emerging Talent Selectors to cast their eye over the country’s next tier of rising young talent.
"The results from the first day have been pretty predictable with the historically favoured teams, on paper, looking pretty strong,’’ she said.
"At this stage, it’s a bit too early to call how things will pan out because a lot of the top teams in each of the pools haven’t played each other yet. We will have a much clearer picture of how things sit after tomorrow (Tuesday) and the completion of pool play.
"But this is such a popular tournament and it’s awesome to see such a large number of Centres, big and small, all come out to give it a go.’’
After the completion of pool play on Tuesday, all teams are re-ranked based on position within their respective pool and will then compete in post-pool play ahead of Thursday’s final place play-offs.
Honouring former Silver Ferns great Margaret Forsyth, who passed away in 2021, teams are vying for the trophy which bears her name and which will be presented to the winners by her mother and son, on Thursday.
In the men’s U17 competition, Waitakere were the only unbeaten team after the first day, building a handy buffer at the top of the points table after clinching two wins.
For day-to-day progress results and standings, click here.