N.Z. U-21 netballers show improvement

Press, 2 December 1987, Page 37

N.Z. U-21 netballers show improvement

PA Wellington New Zealand's up and coming netballers showed an encouraging improvement during their three-match test series with the Australian Institute of Sport at the weekend, coach Yvonne Willering said yesterday. The Young Internationals were totally outclassed in the first match, putting up very little resistance and going down, 28-72. But the Kiwis improved in the second test, a third quarter lapse leaving them with a 30-41 loss. In the third test, won 55-37 by the A.I.S. team. New Zealand trailed 21-6 after the first quarter but

then came back to hold the Australians for the remaining 45 minutes. Willering said she was pleased with the improvement the results showed and proud of the team's fightback in the third test, but felt the young internationals would have benefited from more warm-up matches. "I said before we left that we lacked sharpness, and that was evident from our first result “It would have been better to have had warm-up games against the Australian style of Play.” Willering said the A.I.S. team had played together for

a year and were very much a team unit with a lot more international experience than the Kiwis. “We lapsed a couple of times in our game — we didn’t have total commitment for the whole hour. It was also a confidence thing.” Willering said the Young International squad had benefited considerably from the tour, and would meet again at a training camp in January. Some would go on to the full New Zealand trials in March, while others would trial for the under 21 team to the World Cup in Australia next July.