Netball: Force captain helps young with life in the fast lane

By Sarah Nealon


On and off the netball court, Silver Fern Linda Vagana is helping young people to get used to life in the fast lane.

The captain of the Northern Force is guiding players new to the Coca-Cola Cup, after they were disoriented by crowd noise at Invercargill last weekend.

The Glenfield woman, who is three-quarters through an education degree, also takes care of Pacific Island teenagers new to Auckland. She runs after-school
and holiday programmes with her younger brothers Sonny and Weaver.

"A lot of the people we work with have just come from the Islands, where the lifestyle is so laid back," she said.

"They find life in New Zealand so much faster and totally different. For many, it's a real culture shock and they find it hard to adapt."

Vagana who has been running the programmes for two years on the North Shore, said many of the teenagers who came to her for help were from her local Pacific Island church where her father is a minister.

When she has finished her degree - which is on hold, due to netball commitments - Vagana wants to continue working with youths. "I'd like to use my profile to help young people, if I can."

As a 12-year-old, Vagana got into trouble for her after-school activities. The towering goal keep used to spend nearly every afternoon after classes had finished, playing sport - at the expense of her studies.

"I was always training for this and that," said the 27-year-old. "But when my school report came home, it wasn't too good.

"My parents said I had to pick one sport, so I picked netball." And for Vagana, that choice has proved a wise one.

She has been a Silver Fern since 1993, and has also played representative netball for Waitakere and North Harbour.

When she has any spare time, Vagana can often be found watching cousins Joe and Nigel Vagana playing rugby league for the Auckland Warriors.

This weekend Vagana's Force go into the third round of the Coca-Cola cup with a win and a loss under their belt.

Force management said the young players found the noise overwhelming at their first game against the Southern Sting before a sold-out, parochial crowd in Invercargill last Friday night.

But they are hoping they will get similar support from their fans tonight when they meet the CMTV Cometz - who have the same points - at the North Shore Events Centre. The Force then fly to Wellington to meet the Capital Shakers on Sunday.

In other games tonight, the winless Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic play the Southern Sting, who will have double international Donna Loffhagen back from New Zealand basketball commitments; the Shakers take on the only unbeaten team, the Otago Rebels, in the capital; and the Canterbury Flames meet the giant-killing Western Flyers at home.