The Dannevirke under-15 netball team in Queensland.
The Dannevirke under-15 netball team in Queensland.
Putting Dannevirke on the map was what we wanted, and that’s exactly what we did! For the first time ever, Dannevirke Netball Centre took a representative team to an overseas tournament.
Last month, a group of 22 players and supporters embarked on a journey to the Gold Coast to attend the International Netball Festival after nearly a year of preparations.
The nine-day tour involved not only playing netball, but a bit of sightseeing, shopping and other activities.
Upon arrival, the tour party headed to their accommodation in Southport after a quick dip at Coolangatta Beach and a picnic lunch while enjoying the sunshine.
The next day saw the activities start with a training session involving two players from the Queensland Firebirds, which was a special thrill. In temperatures as high as 30C, the girls knew the tournament days were going to be a big ask of them, as they’d be playing in conditions they were not used to.
After training, it was off to Harbourtown for shopping before the group headed to the official welcome dinner and opening ceremony. At the ceremony, the team did their town and country proud with their rendition of Tūtira Mai Ngā Iwi and greetings in both Te Reo Maori and English.
With one more day before the tournament, it was off to Movie World, where riding a rollercoaster was a first-time experience for many of the girls and parents. Unfortunately, Mother Nature was not on our side, throwing us a tropical storm while we were there, but enjoyment was still had by all.
The next day saw everyone have to switch into netball mode, with three full-length games per day in sweltering heat.
The girls were absolutely amazing, each and every time they took the court. Apart from a couple of pre-tournament games against an Aotea side, the 11 players had not played together as a team, but this did not stop them from working well together and leaving nothing on the court.
Not only the heat was difficult to adjust to, but also some ‘unusual’ interpretations of the rules by the umpires meant the girls had to adapt.
With two wins and a loss against a Western Australian representative team (Budgies), the girls headed into the second day with confidence and came away with another two wins, and a loss to the eventual winners of their division.
Based on the results so far, we knew the third day would be a tough one, as we’d be facing the other two New Zealand teams and a team from Samoa. The girls had losses to our NZ counterparts, but managed a nail-biting one-goal win over Samoa.
Defender Jessie Te Huki made it hard for the opposition's shooter.
This left the team going into playoffs in fifth position. The finals day saw us face Robina College in a semifinal which they convincingly won, and that put us through to the final playoff for fifth or sixth place against Samoa. The girls had decided they were not leaving the tournament placed any lower than fifth and played their hearts out to win this game 39-26, giving them the final placing of fifth in the 15-and-under division.
12-year-old Lushyn Te Ture had only eyes for the ball.
With our girls ranging in age from 12 to 14, this was an outstanding achievement by the team. Each and every girl can be proud of their efforts, but special mention needs to go to our MVP Ashleigh Hape and to our youngest player Lushyn Te Ture (12), who fitted in with ease with the older girls and did not once look out of place. She is a talented young girl with a very big future in netball!
Team members Jane and Nicola with poi, which were presented to each of the team's opponents.
As a koha to our opponents, our captain/vice-captain presented opposing captains with a set of poi, which teams and management were very humbled by. Before returning to NZ, there was a trip on the Aquaduck in Surfers Paradise and another trip to Movie World to sneak in some more rides.
To finish all the festivities, a final dinner was held at the Currumbin Wildlife Centre, where the girls got to experience an Aboriginal cultural show and meet a snake close up.
We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to our many supporters who travelled with us, as well as the many ex-Dannevirke people who came to cheer the girls on. Our gratitude also goes to our families, our sponsors and the whole Dannevirke community for the support given to this trip.
It was certainly an amazing opportunity for all involved and, hopefully, one everyone will remember for their lifetimes.
Results: Budgies - lost 39-20, Robina College - won 38-7, Instinct Power - won 39-19, Instinct Courage - won 32-28. Northern Lights - lost 36-17. Northern Districts Eagles - won 39-10. Papamoa - lost 36-31, Samoa - won 27-26, Manaia - lost 49-25. Semifinal v Northern District Eagles - won 30-19, fifth/sixth playoff v Samoa - won 39-26.
