Southland
The Invercargill Netball Centre (INC) will be represented at national age group tournaments in 2017.
For the past four years, INC joined forces with Eastern and Central netball centres to create cluster teams to compete at both the New Zealand U17 and U19 championships.
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INC president Maree McMillan said the decision to now field an independent team reflected the centre’s growth.
“As a committee, we believe we have the strength within our own centre and feel the time is right to support our own players on this pathway. We’re excited to manage these representative teams and see Invercargill performing on the national stage,” she said.
“Our aim is for Invercargill teams to compete at all high performance events at under-17 and under-19 level and we are fully committed to providing those opportunities for our talented local players.”
Netball New Zealand (NNZ) recently announced the 2017 Domestic Events Calendar, which will run alongside the new 2017 ANZ Premiership and Beko Netball League.
It comprises the Netball NZ U19 Champs, the Netball NZ U17 Champs and the NZ Secondary Schools Netball Champs.
NNZ Chief Executive Jennie Wyllie said the tournaments were a highlight on the netball calendar for all involved.
“This is an excellent opportunity – not only for young players – but for umpires, coaches and officials to showcase their talent and gain more experience,” Wyllie said.
“We are pleased that we are able to bring these events to different parts of the country and encourage participation from the wider netball community.”
The first domestic event of the year will be the Netball NZ U19 Champs at the ASB Sports Centre in Wellington from Monday 10 to Thursday 13 July, 2017.
Pukekohe Netball Centre will host the Netball NZ U17 Champs – NNZ’s largest event – from Monday 17 to Thursday 20 July, 2017.
The final domestic event on the calendar is the highly anticipated NZ Secondary Schools Netball Champs, to be held at the Energy Events Centre, Rotorua, from Tuesday 10 to Friday 13 October.