School pride will go on the line when the eagerly awaited resumption of the FUJIFILM Business Innovation NZ Secondary Schools Netball Champs gets underway in Porirua on Tuesday 11 October.
One of the most hotly contested tournaments on the Netball New Zealand (NNZ) calendar, the popular event is back after being cancelled for the past two years due to Covid-19.
Established in 1993 the tournament, run over four days, is the pinnacle event for the cream of New Zealand’s secondary school talent and an important pathway to higher honours.
After going through the three regional events, comprising the South Island Secondary Schools, Lower North Island Secondary Schools and Upper North Island Secondary Schools tournaments, 16 teams have qualified for the national champs.
“We’re delighted that our secondary school players are getting their opportunity to compete in this tournament again after the disappointment of the last two years,” NNZ Chief Executive Jennie Wyllie said.
“This tournament is a real highlight for these young players, an important pathway to their future progress and we get to see inter-school rivalry at its very best.”
Four pools of four teams will play round-robin matches in their respective pools before teams 1- 8 and 9-16 are determined. This will be followed by cross-over match-ups which will take place on Wednesday afternoon and Thursday to decide Friday’s final place play-offs.
The tournament consists of six schools from the Upper North Island and five each from the Lower North Island and South Island.
St Peter’s School (Cambridge) won the event for the first time when it was last held in 2019 and are coached by the well-credentialled Te Aroha Keenan.