Netball Around the World

The Netball Development Trust (NDT) has continued to promote IFNA's GOAL Project in India by attending the Aali vs Aabhas match in Delhi this week. Supported by the Australian Sports Commission, and organised by NAZ Trust, the match was played as part of a six-team league competition which has been organised to increase participation in netball across the Delhi region. Aabhas emerged the victors 9-8 after 30 minutes of play – our photograph shows the game in action. Congratulations to NAZ Trust for all the organising and hard work it really was a great competition.

The NDT is a programme which aims to introduce netball at grass roots level to primary school children living in some of the poorest areas of Uganda and India, in regions where they lack even the most basic equipment and resources needed to play netball. The Trust will be making another trip to India to Bhubaneshwar, Orissa later this year so watch this space for more information on that trip. To find out more about the Trust, visit www.netballtrust.co.uk.

Malawi goalshooter Mwayi Kumwende is turning her hand to coaching, after completing her first season as an import player in the Australian Netball League (ANL). Kumwende, her country's first netballing professional, recently returned home after starring for the Penninsula Waves in the ANL and has established a training programme for primary and secondary schools which she will take across Malawi from September.

Tanzania's Taifa Queens will travel to this year's All African Championships without three key players. Restituta Boniface, Irene Elias and Lillian Silidion will miss next month's tournament, which is to be played in Mozambique, as they will be sitting Certificate of Secondary Education examinations. Six other players are currently away from Tanzania's training camp due to commitments at the country's Military Games, but are expected to return for selection at the end of August.

In Botswana's SPAR Good For You National league, UB Crystals edged past Notwane 42-39 in this week's feature match. Inspired by accurate shooting by Botihale Moeng, Crystals overturned Notwane's early lead and with Thulaganyo Segopolo controlling the UB side's defensive line, Crystals held on to take a well deserved victory. In the week's other match, BDF Cats proved too strong for Flying Doves, taking the points from their encounter after an easy 58-10 win.

Jamaica's Young Sunshine Girls completed a 4-0 sweep against England's U19 touring team this week, taking the final test between the two countries 52-40, as both sides started their preparations for the World Youth Championships in 2013. Meanwhile, sponsors General Accident have honoured Sunshine Girls' towering shooter Jhanele Fowler, presenting her with an Award of Excellence for her outstanding shooting during the recent World Championships, at which she was Jamaica's leading goal scorer with a conversion rate of 89%.

The Territory Storm has taken its first win of the 2011 Australian Netball League, coming from behind to sneak a 51-50 win against the Canberra Darters. However, the Storm failed to make it two wins from two this week, despite leading by four goals at the end of the final quarter, as they allowed South Australia to snatch a 47-45 win. Queensland Fusion remains at the top of the competition table, ahead of NSW Waratahs and NSW Blues, both of which have games in hand over the league leaders.

Jade Clarke is the latest English international to secure an ANZ Championship contract, after agreeing terms with New Zealand's Northern Mystics for the 2012 season. Clarke, who appeared briefly for the Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic in 2010 as a replacement for the injured Peta Scholz, looks set to take over the WD position vacated by Joline Henry when she transferred to the Central Pulse for the new season.

Netball New Zealand has announced that Waikato/Bay of Plenty Magic coach Noeline Taurua will act as assistant coach for Silver Ferns head coach Ruth Aitken during the autumn international series. Taurua replaces Waimarana Taumaunu, who stepped down from the assistant coach's role at the conclusion of the Netball World Championships in Singapore earlier this year.

Finally, while many ANZ Championships players are using gym sessions or beach runs as pre-season conditioning training, West Coast Fever player Shae Bolton has set herself a higher target – namely, to reach the top of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa's highest peak. Bolton, 22, is undertaking the gruelling trek to raise money for a charity combating homelessness among young people, the Ladder Foundation. To find out more about the trek, or make a donation, please visit www.everydayhero.com.au/shae_bolton.

Netball around the world

Ruth Aitken, the world's most capped netball coach, is stepping down as head coach of New Zealand's Silver Ferns in October, and will take up a new role as Coaching Director for Netball New Zealand. Aitken, who took over as Silver Ferns coach in 2001, led New Zealand to its first World Championship title in 16 years in 2003, as well as back to back Commonwealth titles in 2006 and 2010. She will step down from the role after New Zealand's autumn internationals against Australia and England and her replacement will be named in November.

Colette Thomson has been named as coach of England's U21 squad for the 2013 World Youth Championships, and will also be taking charge of the England open squad's autumn tour of Australia and New Zealand. Former international Thomson, who led England to silver at the 2003 World Youth Championships in Florida, will take over the U21 role full time in January. She is currently leading England's Xcel squad's tour of Jamaica, during which the England and Jamaica U19 squads will play three test matches as preparations for the 2013 World Youth Championships get under way for both nations.

The Namibian Netball Association has confirmed that the country is seeking friendly international matches against African neighbours Malawi and Botswana ahead of the Six Nations Cup, which is to take place in Singapore in December.

Gauteng North retained the South African SPAR National Championships title, defeating Free State Motheo 37-31 in an entertaining final. Erkulehni finished the competition in third place, defeating Nelson Mandela Bay 56-44 in the bronze medal play off. Gauteng North also took the U19 and U21 titles at the championships.

More player moves have been confirmed this week as the ANZ Championships sides continue to work on finalising their line ups ahead of the October deadline to name their teams. Australian vice captain Catherine Cox is the latest big name player to switch franchises, moving to the West Coast Fever from the NSW Swifts this week on a two year contract, where she will be joined by promising young English defender Eboni Beckford Chambers. Former Australian U21 star Courtney Tairi is to move to New Zealand's Southern Steel, but after speculation that she would join New Zealand's most southerly team, Australian international Mo'onia Gerrard has confirmed that she will stay with the NSW Swifts for another season.

Finally, congratulations to Pakistan's Shining Star Netball Club, which won the country's Independence Day Netball Championships, defeating Ever Green 27-22 in the final of the competition which was organised by the Punjab Netball Association. To coincide with the tournament, the Punjab Netball Association arranged a series of training sessions at which more than 100 players from Gujranwala, Sialkot, Hafizabad and Shiekhupura learned basic skills and fitness drills, many as first time netballers.

Netball around the world

Many congratulations to IFNA President Molly Rhone, who is to receive the Order of Jamaica, one of the country's highest honours, for services to netball. Former international player Molly, who is the only Jamaican to head an international sport's governing body, has led IFNA since 2003 and was previously chair of the Jamaican Netball Association.

Lisa Alexander has been named as the new head coach of the Australian Diamonds for the next two years, after incumbent Norma Plummer withdrew her application for reappointment after her side's successful World Championships defence in Singapore last month. Alexander, who was formerly Australian U21 coach and Adelaide Thunderbirds assistant coach, aims to continue Australia's international success by improving and extending the country's high performance programme. She will take charge of the squad immediately, with her first national squad camp taking place during the first weekend of September, ahead of autumn internationals against England and New Zealand.



Malawi's most celebrated and recognised international, Mary Waya, has announced she will be opening the Mary Waya Netball Academy from this weekend, to identify and develop future stars of the international game. Waya, who is currently her country's U21 squad coach and led her squad to the title at the African Zone XI championship title last December, will be working with players aged 7-15 to introduce and improve their basic skills and courtcraft.



Jamaican defensive star Althea Byfield has announced her retirement from the international game, following her country's disappointing performances in Singapore. Byfield, 28, was a member of Jamaica's silver medal winning team at the World Youth Championships in 2000, and won bronze medals at the world championships in 2003 and 2007. Former Jamaica captain Simone Forbers, who indicated that she would be retiring from the international game in May has also written to the Jamaica Netball Association to confirm her decision to withdraw from the Sunshine Girls.



Netball Fiji is shaking up its administration, advertising the roles of coach, manager and selectors for the country's international squads for the coming years. Incumbent coaches Gabriel Qoro and Una Rokoura are eligible for reapointment: their current contracts concluded with at the completion of the World Championships in Singapore.



South Africa's Proteas have withdrawn from the All Africa Championships to be held in Mozambique next month. With players still recovering from injuries sustained during the country's World Championships campaign or unavailable due to work or study commitments, Netball South Africa has acknowledged that the timing will not permit adequate preparation or recovery times for its international squad. The Proteas will now focus on their next international match, to be held in Perth, Australia, in October, against Malawi.



In domestic competitions, England Netball has confirmed the eight franchises to take part in the 2012 Fiat Netball Superleague. Champions Hertfordshire Mavericks and former title holders TeamBath will be joined by Surrey Storm, Northern Thunder, Team Northumbria, Loughborough Lightning, new side Yorkshire Jets and Celtic Dragons in the league, which has been trimmed from nine squads to eight for the new season. Meanwhile, former England coach Mary Beardwood has confirmed that she is stepping down from her role as head coach of Surrey Storm after two seasons in charge. She will become the franchise's first honorary Vice President in recognition of her contribution to the development of Surrey Storm in its first two years of existence.



Gauteng North is on track to defend South Africa's Spar National Netball Championships title after dismissing Western Province 60-29 and Griqualand West 61-27 in their pool matches this week. Free State Motheo are also unbeaten ahead of this weekend's play off matches, with the final due to be played on Sunday.



As franchises in the ANZ Championships continue to finalise their line ups, Central Pulse have added another international star to their line up for the 2012 season with the signing of Silver Fern Joline Henry. She will join a much-strengthened Pulse side for the new season, which will also boast New Zealand stars Camilla Lees, Katrina Grant, Paula Griffin and Australian sharpshooter Caitlin Thwaites. However, two Silver Ferns will be missing from next year's competition with Daneka Wipiiti taking time out to play basketball and Leana Leota likely to move to the UK with her husband, who has been signed to play rugby with club side Sale.

IFNA President Honoured

The International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA) is very proud to announce that its President, Mrs Molly Rhone, will receive the Order of Jamaica at the Jamaica National Honours and Awards Ceremony at King’s House on National Heroes Day, October 17.

In 1999 the government of Jamaica awarded her the Order of Distinction for her work in netball but now she will receive the country's fourth highest honour, the Order of Jamaica, for services locally and internationally in Sports Administration, in particular netball.

Molly served as Jamaica Netball Association (JNA) President from 1993 until 2003 and represented Jamaica in the World Netball Championships (WNC) in 1967 and 1975.

Molly is the only Jamaican to head an international sporting body, has been IFNA’s President since 2003 and is the longest serving President to date. From 1999 to 2003 she served as IFNA Vice President and between 1997 and 2003 she was responsible for the bidding, planning, organisation and successful hosting of the eleventh World Netball Championships held in Jamaica.

Molly is absolutely thrilled to receive the Order: "It is a great honour. As I always say, when we serve we don't serve to be recognised, we serve out of love and passion, and we do appreciate it when we are recognised."

Australia's dual-World Netball Championships winning coach Norma Plummer has withdrawn her application to renew her contract with the Diamonds, after it was announced that the role had been restructured. Plummer, who took charge in 2003 and led Australia to consecutive World titles in 2007 and 2011, as well as two Commonwealth silver medals, was recently appointed head coach of the West Coast Fever in the ANZ Championships, after stating that she wants to return to a more day-to-day hands on coaching role. During her time in charge, Plummer's Australia won 75% of their 89 international test matches. Her replacement will be announced shortly.

New Zealand vice captain Temepara George announced her retirement this week, after 89 test appearances for the Silver Ferns. After making her international debut in 2000 against Australia, George went on to claim two Commonwealth Games gold medals with New Zealand, as well as the 2003 World title. The Ferns' selectors have announced two new faces – 19 year old Kayla Cullen and 21 year old Julianna Naoupu – in the New Zealand squad to face Australia and England in the autumn international programme. Former Samoan international Cathrine Latu, having served an international suspension period, is named for the Silver Ferns after an impressive ANZ season, while New Zealand U21 international Sulu Tone-Fitzpatrick and New Zealand accelerant squad member Te Huinga Reo Selby Rickett have been announced as training partners for the upcoming Ferns training camp in September.

Netball South Africa has abandoned using a quota system for selection, but president of the association, Mimi Mthethewa, has stated this week that teams chosen for the country's upcoming national championships must still be a fair representation of players from within their areas, to ensure that player development is allowed to continue. Previously, squads without the required ratio of seven black and five white players, or seven white and five players were docked points before the start of the tournament.

Tanzania's Taifa Queens go into camp this weekend as preparations start to build for the All Africa Games, to be held in Mozambique from 3-18 September. Under the watchful eye of coach Mary Protas, the 20 player squad includes members from Zanzibar for the first time and will be in training camp for a month. They are set to face Ghana, South Africa and Zimbabwe in the opening stages of the Games competition.

England's U19 squad is set to tour Jamaica in August, as both sides step up preparations for the World Youth Netball Championships in 2013. In addition to four practice games against Jamaica, England will also take on the best of the island's youth club and school sides in four additional matches during their ten day tour. Jamaica's preparations for the World Youth Championships have been boosted by an increased sponsorship commitment which will allow the Young Sunshine Girls to extend their training programmes over a four year period.

In domestic competitions, Sri Lanka's 20th Milo All Island Netball Championships concluded this week, with Holy Family Convent, Kurunegala crowned as champions for the fourth successive year. The champions retained their title in style, with five teams in all age groups of the competition from U12 to U19. More than 330 teams – a record entry level – took part in the tournament.

Netball around the world

New Zealand's inspirational captain Casey Williams has been ruled out of international competition for the rest of the year, due to an ongoing ankle injury which requires surgery. Williams, who played the 2006 Commonwealth Games final with a broken ankle, will undergo an operation in August to clean out her ankle joint and will miss the autumn internationals against England and Australia as a result. New Zealand will also be without experienced defender Joline Henry for the two Test series, as she has indicated she is taking time out of the game to plan her next steps. The full Silver Ferns squad for the 2011/12 internationals will be named on 1 August.

Optimism is growing in South Africa after the Proteas' encouraging fifth place at the Mission Foods World Championships, with Netball South Africa calling on the country's Sports Minister, Fikile Mbulala, to make good on his pre-competition promise to ensure the promotion and development of netball has a priority from his department in the coming months. The first opportunity that the South African government has to reinforce its support for the game will come at the Spar National Netball championships, which are to be held at the Belville Velodrome in the Western Cape from 7-13 August. 42 teams will take part in the competition, including defending national champions Gauteng North and last season's runners up Free State Motheo.

Across Africa, BDF Cats were in impressive form in the first round of Botswana's Spar “Good for You” Netball League, crushing Notwane 59-19. Young shooter Tumisang Bagidi was in sparkling form as the Cats side cruised to the top of the table after the opening games of the season.

In Israel, netball participation continues to grow, with three schools sending six teams to compete in the Maccabi Primary School Tournament in Tel Aviv this week. The year 5 and 6 competition was won by Clore Shalom's year 5 pupils in a competition which has allowed hundreds of young Jewish sportswomen the chance to play netball this season, many for the first time.

Another shooter, Nina Scirikisuva, was the inspiration as Veiyasana Red lifted Fiji's New World Suva Netball Association Superleague title this week. Scirikisuva top scored as Red defeated CDM, with its international-packed line up, 30-24 at Fiji's National Netball Centre to take the title for 2011. Meanwhile, in Fiji's Suva Southern Secondary School Championships, there will be a new name on the national U19 trophy this season, after title holders Adi Cakabaou School lost 14-15 to Rata Sakuna Memorial School (RSM) in the semi final. RSM will face Dudley High School in the Grand Final on 5 August.

Malawi Goal Shooter, Mwayi Kumwende, has concluded her season as her country's first overseas player in the Australian Netball League, winning the “Best and Fairest” award at her club Peninsula Waves' awards ceremony this week. Kumwende, who is currently the subject of media speculation as to whether an ANZ Championship side will name her in their line up for the coming season, has been an overwhelming success for the Waves during 2011 and the club is hopeful of recalling her for their 2012 competitive campaign.

Finally, Australian netball great, Sharelle McMahon, has a new challenge while she recovers from Achilles tendon surgery, after being invited to join Twenty/20 cricket side the Melbourne Stars as a board member.

Netball around the World

Netball has not been selected as a candidate for the 2020 Olympic Games but IFNA is still hopeful of inclusion in the long term future. Eight sports – baseball, karate, rollersports, softball, sports climbing, squash, wakeboard and wushu – have been shortlisted for consideration. Despite this disappointment, Urvasi Naidoo, IFNA's Chief Executive Officer, remains positive about the game's prospects: “We are encouraged that netball made the long list (for consideration)”, she said, “..and will continue to work with International Olympic Committee (IOC). We will continue to work harder over the next five years to achieve our goal of seeing netball at the Olympics in the future.”

Molly Rhone IFNA President explained "We are in contact with the IOC every year, we're a recognised sport and what we're trying to do is get into more multi-sports events. When you take part in these multi-sports events then more people see your sport. One of the five pillars of our new strategic plan is having world class events, and that doesn't necessarily mean World Championships, that means at a national level, at a regional level so anywhere you see netball it is done in a very professional way."

With many internationals now entering a rest period after the World Netball Championships, attention in many areas now turns to age group competitions. In the New Zealand Netball age group championships, Otago held their nerve to edge past Canterbury 60-59 in a thrilling U21 final. Southern Steel shooter Te Paea Selby-Rickett provided a strong target for the Otago attack which, encouraged by her accuracy, clung on to the narrowest of leads to take the title. The U19 title went to Auckland-Waitakere for the third year in succession, defeating Wellington 29-24 in the final.

The best of Australia's future talent has been on show this week at the Australian 21 and Under National Championships. New South Wales (pictured) claimed its fourth consecutive title with an impressive 48-35 win against arch rivals Victoria in the Grand Final. Inspired by strong defensive work by April Letton – named player of the tournament for the second year in a row – Abbey McCullough and Paige Hadley, New South Wales led at every break and powered on to take the title. Queensland's young stars failed to add the national title to the ANZ Championships crown won by the Queensland Firebirds, and ended the competition in fourth place, after losing in the play offs to South Australia 52-46.

In Fiji, the return of national represenatives Vaiti Waqatabu, Teimumu Moce and Alesi Waqa inspired ACSOG to overcome the previously undefeated Southern Police 30-18 in the latest round of the country's Gold Nasinu Netball Association league this week. Teams for the National Inter-District Championships will be announced at the conclusion of the competition.

Netball Australia has announced the country's first ever NetFest, to take place on the country's Gold Coast from 8-11 September 2011. The festival is expected to feature more than 1,000 players of all standards from across the country, and overseas: for more information, please visit www.netfest.com.au

Tharjini Sivalingam, Asia's tallest netballer at 6'10”, received an award of 500,000 LKR (approx $4,000US) from Sri Lanka's president Mahinda Rajapaksa this week. Sivalingam, whose accuracy helped Sri Lanka achieve 14th place at the recent Netball World Championships, received the grant at a ceremony to mark the start of construction of the Kilinochchi Sports Complex – the first world-class sporting complex to be built in the north of the country at a cost of 325mill LKR (approx $3 million US). The complex will include facilities for up to 25 sports and, it is hoped, will provide access for widows and children of those killed in Sri Lanka's terrorist conflicts to rebuild their lives through sport.

In the UK, the organisers of the Fiat Netball Superleague have received applications from ten francises to take part in the 2012-15 seasons. Hertfordshire Mavericks, Surrey Storm, TeamBath, Northern Thunder, Celtic Dragons, Loughborough Lightning, Yorkshire Jets, Team Northumbria, Glasgow Wildcats and a Birmingham-based franchise will now have their applications examined by the league's six-member assessment panel, against criteria including performance, management, community, commercial and vision. The eight franchises which match these criteria most closely will be invited to form the league – a decision is expected in the first week of August.

Finally, IFNA is delighted to welcome five new Member countries this month. Tonga, Austria, Brunei, Nepal and Ethiopia are now Associate Members of the federation and will be working closely with IFNA's support teams to develop and expand the reach of the game across their countries.