Junior netters show skills

The Telecom Sports Arena in Nikao burst into life on Saturday for the first full day of netball for the 2011 season.

While the masters, open and corporate mixed division teams played their games on Wednesday – the future stars of netball were the first on court on Saturday morning.

A good crowd of supporting parents and grandparents turned out to watch the mini netters show off their skills and there were certainly some thrilling displays of netball.

In the under 10 division – umpires played a crucial role in not only controlling the games but offering some coaching to players to help them understand the game and to get the most enjoyment out of their game.

The mini Pearls from Titikaveka thrilled their club with a 7-0 win over an equally strong Tupapa team.

The Takuvaine under 10s were full of life but their 4 goals weren’t enough to put away the Kokiri under 10s from Ngatangiia who scored 10 goals.

A close match was seen in the Avatiu and Arorangi game with Arorangi potting 2 more goals to edge out Avatiu 10-12.

A strong contingent of players was seen in the new junior open division with Tupapa giving Titikaveka a good run but just missing out on the win by one goal (34-33) while Ngatangiia beat Takuvaine 10-4 and Avatiu were convincing 33-23 winners over Arorangi.

In the premier grade, the returning Tupapa club were impressive against defending champions Titikaveka who had to pull out all the stops to beat Tupapa 66-59.

Takuvaine showed they mean business this year with a huge 71-18 win over Ngatangiia while Avatiu are all smiles after their 68-34 win against Arorangi.

Plenty of fun was seen in the first round of the corporate mixed netball division last week and businesses, government departments or groups of friends wanting to be a part of the fun mixed corporate division can still enter a team.

Registrations are $100 per team and those interested can contact Patsy Hockin on 21669 or 55226 to get your netball on.

- Matariki Wilson

First week results:

Under 10 grade – Titikaveka 7 vs Tupapa 0, Takuvaine 4 vs Ngatangiia 10, Avatiu 10 vs Arorangi 12, under 12 grade – Titikaveka 7 vs Tupapa 3, Takuvaine 4 vs Ngatangiia 10, Avatiu 12 vs Arorangi 5, under 15 grade – Titikaveka 15 vs Tupapa 13, Takuvaine 13 vs Ngatangiia 10, Avatiu 10 vs Arorangi 12, junior open grade – Titikaveka 34 vs Tupapa 33, Takuvaine 4 vs Ngatangiia 10, Avatiu 33 vs Arorangi 23, open two grade – Titikaveka 16 vs Tupapa 14, Takuvaine 21 vs Ngatangiia 10, Avatiu 20 vs Arorangi 12, open one grade – Titikaveka 57 vs Tupapa 27, Takuvaine 31 vs Ngatangiia 23, Avatiu 31 vs Arorangi 29, reserve grade – Titikaveka 84 vs Tupapa 37, Takuvaine 49 vs Ngatangiia 41, Avatiu 68 vs Arorangi 25, premier grade – Titikaveka 66 vs Tupapa 59, Takuvaine 71 vs Ngatangiia 18, Avatiu 68 vs Arorangi 34, corporate mixed division – AA Jets 17 vs RR Pollies 13, MFEM 8 vs Tupapa JB’s 42, Air Raro vs 22 ANZ 15, masters division – Titikaveka 18 vs Avatiu 7.