Tank Guys are top netballers

By Vatapuia Maiava 26 August 2016, 12:00AM

The Reckitt Benckiser Social Netball Competition has come to a successful conclusion with Tuesday night’s final games.

The tournament which began eight weeks ago saw different businesses pull teams together from staff and friends to compete in a series of netball games.

Team Tank Guys met the team from the Ministry of Revenue in the final match beating them 17-10.

Improved skills, hidden talents, team bonding… the tournament had it all and more.

But how exactly did the idea of such a tournament come about?

“We have a lot of demand from businesses to have an official netball tournament,” said Netball Samoa’s C.E.O. Rosemarie Esera.

“Companies have found that it is a good way for team bonding; previously we had a Business House competition and we had A grade players.

“But for this tournament, we have decided not to have any A grade players so that we can keep it fun and I think it has really proven to be a success.

“We have attracted a lot of new and old players back into the competition.”

According to Ms. Esera, the tournament has helped greatly in providing exposure for the sport through public awareness.

Through a series of netball programmes targeting the grassroots and teens; Netball Samoa has given different groups of Samoa access to the sport.

The Reckitt Benckiser tournament is Netball Samoa’s way of tapping into a more mature group of netball lovers.

Apart from exposure, the netball competition will also help with women empowerment in Samoa.

“Another fact is that there is a lot emphasis on women empowerment,” Ms. Esera said.

“We see that playing netball is can be seen as a contributing factor to women leadership. It is also a very good way to have fun and stay healthy.”

One of the tournament’s successes was seeing all the different teams improve in basic skills as well as game knowledge.

“A lot of the teams like the ones from the Office of Electoral Commission, Ministry of Revenue as well as Samoa Spare Parts have shown great improvement,” Ms. Esera said.

“When they first started, they were very confused with the rules, especially the concept of playing; they weren’t used to passing the ball and stepping.

“But as the weeks progressed we have seen a lot of really good improvement in their skills as well as in their teamwork and team spirit.

“It’s really good to see a lot of players from work groups playing and laughing together after; so it’s good to just come to play and then just leave.”

Ms. Esera said that Netball Samoa will run more tournaments in the future in line with the demand for it.

They  do not aim for getting a mass of numbers, but rather they are just happy to be able to provide access to the sport.

Throughout the tournament the team from Ministry of Revenue was branded the team to beat but when push came to shove, Tank Guys won the final game.

But for the future of the tournament, Ms. Esera urges those who want to participate to keep an eye on their facebook page for any announcements.

“We will be advertising our next round of Business House tournaments later on,” she said.

“Netball Samoa is willing to help out other tournaments; if you need any assistance then Netball Samoa will be more than happy to help out where we can.”

Prize giving date was not confirmed but it will be held soon at Home Café.

Overall Placing:

 1st – Tank Guy

2nd – Ministry of Revenue

3rd – i-B-PRO-FUN

4th – Samoa Spare Parts

5th – OEC

6th – Taula

7th – Oriana

8th – SWA

By Vatapuia Maiava 26 August 2016, 12:00AM
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