Editorial: Netball takes centre court

THE FIRST influx of netballers for the annual Kurangaituku tournament in Rotorua have been and gone and by all accounts it was a hugely successful weekend.

Organisers expected numbers to be down on previous years as the tournament was held a little earlier due to the timing of the Rugby World Cup and many local club competitions around the country still running.

However, it seems that this past week, anyway, wasn't really affected, with 199 teams, including one from Australia, entered.

It is testament to the continuing popularity of the biggest netball tournament in the Southern Hemisphere and one of Rotorua's most enduring annual events.

Now in its 78th year, the Kurangaituku tournament had very humble beginnings, with just a handful of teams at the first. The event grew rapidly and for some years now has been held over three Fridays and Saturdays with social grades the first week, top grades the next and then secondary schools.

The atmosphere at Rotorua's Westbrook netball complex for the first instalment of the 2011 event was great. The weather was fine and teams participated fully in the social spirit of the first weekend, some dressed up in wigs, head gear and/or special outfits.

Two teams decided to take things a step further by playing their match with a touch ball, the match featuring kick-offs and scrums. It was a real crowd pleaser, epitomising what this event is to many netballers from around the country - an end-of-season weekend of fun.

We were told one Auckland team forfeited their local club competition final because they didn't want to miss out on their annual Rotorua outing.

The tournament is also always good business for accommodation providers, restaurants, cafes, bars, retailers and tourism attractions.

Local businesses will no doubt be looking forward to another boost this week.

Congratulations to the organisers at Netball Rotorua for their continuing hard work in putting on such an excellent event which has for many years now been such a positive for the city.