Rarotonga seeks netball status

Press, 2 May 1984, Page 32

Rarotonga seeks netball status

By

KAY FORRESTER

The enthusiasm among netball players in Rarotonga should help that country with its application to attend the next world tournament, a leading New Zealand player who has visited the island nation believes. Canterbury’s netball captain, Leigh Gibbs, has just returned from two weeks in Western Samoa and Rarotonga as part of a fourwomen coaching delegation to the Pacific Islands. Accompanied by the national coach, Lois Muir, and the national president, Anne Taylor, Mrs Gibbs visited schools and clubs to demonstrate the basics of the game to eager netballers. “We went first to Western Samoa for a week where we visited three schools and the teachers’ college,” she said. “We held one-hour sessions teaching the basics — passing, court plays, body balance — at the schools and further sessions for players, umpires and coaches. These started at 4.30 p.m. and went on until dark as there are no lighted courts there.” Most of the coaching was elementary as Western Samoa was relatively new to the game of netball, Mrs Gibbs said. “There are no sealed courts at the schools, just grass courts with no markings — and the grass is six inches high and the surface uneven. The Western Samoan Association has three new courts, built for last year’s South Pacific Games.” The standard of netball in Rarotonga, where the delegation also spent a week, was better, Mrs Gibbs said. “I was astounded by the enthusiasm of the players in Rarotonga. At each session

at the clubs we had 70 to 80 players — and only one court.” The players who attended the coaching sessions ranged in age from nine to 50. “There is a Golden Oldies competition, which began as social netball but has now been included in the competition. You have to be more than 40 to play in the grade.” There are six clubs in Rarotonga, each with six teams and one court. Competition games are organised between clubs. “One club would play host to another and there would be matches between the six teams from the two clubs. Most courts had a rugby field beside them and the netball would be followed by a rugby match for the men. It created a great family atmosphere that encouraged participation in sport by all members of the family,” Mrs Gibbs said. Rarotongan netball skills were more developed than those in Western Samoa, probably because of a greater New Zealand influence, Mrs Gibbs said. “They have seen more and played more netball in Rarotonga than in Western Samoa. The Rarotongans

also showed a lot of natural flair for the game. The secondary school standard on the island would be comparable to that in New Zealand.” Rarotonga has applied in the last few weeks for affiliation to the existing internationally-recognised netball nations and eligibility to attend the next world tournament in 1985. Mrs Gibbs believes a Rarotongan team would slot into the top 10 nations in the world. “The players are very keen and highly motivated. They took everything we had time to teach them and wanted more.” Western Samoan administrators were keen to develop the sport in their country also and wanted more assistance from New Zealand. By fostering netball in the Pacific Islands New Zealand would strengthen South Pacific netball and provide more competition closer at hand for its own national side. “A few years ago England ran a similar programme in the Caribbean countries,” Mrs Gibbs said. “Now teams such as Barbados are developing into strong netball sides.”