WGP 19Feb20 - LVN190220netball3Action from the Umpires Tournament at Donnelly Park at the weekend.
WGP 19Feb20 - LVN190220netball3Action from the Umpires Tournament at Donnelly Park at the weekend.
The first whistle to herald the start of the netball season has been pushed back a week as Netball Horowhenua struggles with a lack of volunteers and late entries from clubs.
Netball Horowhenua is in dire need of volunteers and support people and was concerned it couldn't start a competition knowing that some clubs had not even a registered team.
The competition was supposed to have started with a grading day this Saturday at Donnelly Park.
The association has sent a letter to all clubs and affiliated members and had circulated a Facebook post highlighting their concerns.
Netball Horowhenua association administration manager Meka Hemi-Bateman said it had no choice but to push out the opening date one week to give those teams further opportunity to register.
"Most will have seen registrations were due last week. Unfortunately, we've not received submissions from teams we are aware have the intention of returning to Netball Horowhenua 2020, and also haven't received a significant amount overall," the letter said.
"Due to these reasons, the committee has been required to push the season out one week to allow enough time for those teams to register as well as providing enough teams for the duration of the season."
"We understand some of these changes may cause inconveniences to some teams and clubs who are organised to kick off this weekend. However, to ensure we are providing the best competition we can this year, this adjustment was absolutely necessary.
Grading Day, which was meant to be held this weekend, had now been pushed out until March 14.
Netball Horowhenua could be forced to insist that teams and clubs had to nominate and put forward a delegate to ensure seats were filled in the boardroom."
Such a move would also spread the workload among the clubs, while also ensuring that each elected member had a chance to advocate on behalf of their club.
"Should we continue to struggle with acquiring more individuals on the committee, we may be required to enforce that each club has a club delegate/representative, present at every meeting," it said.
"With regards to seeking additional helping hands, at this point we are specifically looking for members to join the "committee".
"We're looking for those who can commit to the committee. Our committee meetings are held on the last Friday of every month. Please PM us on facebook or contact us via email to admin@netballhorowhenua.org.nz, if you're able to join the committee."
"Those who have offered help on Saturday's etc...please come and offer your assistance to the association when you're able. All help is greatly appreciated and accepted."
The committee was to meet tonight (WED) at 6pm at the clubrooms upstairs at Donnelly Park to discuss Rules & Regulations.
The association had extended the period for which teams could register, too, until 5pm tomorrow night (THURS).
