The National Academy Tournament ended on a high note after academy players went through a three days of quality game time that comprise a mixture of local and overseas experience.
The tournament featured the 17&U and 19&U academy teams facing off against the Fiji Selection Baby Pearls, comprised of 21&U players from the wider Fiji Pearls squad, as well as two sports institute teams from Australia, the Victoria Institute of Sports and South Australia Sports Institute.
Netball Fiji CEO Ms Vivian Koster praised the academy players for demonstrating some enthralling performance throughout the three days of tournament.
Ms Koster credits the annual Academy training camp that was rolled out from October to December and culminating into a three days of intense netball matches.
“Looking at the performance of our academy players over the past few days, we are proud of what we see because we know they have grasped what we have been teaching them in the academy,” Koster said.
“We have our under-17 and under-19 teams taking part in the tournament, and we are happy with the performance has been coming along.”
The tournament was initially set up to conclude the academy training camp, while also provides the opportunity for national selectors to draw out their selection process for the Baby Pearls 21&U side to the Netball World Youth World Cup Qualifier next year.
“So, from this tournament, we will be selecting players for our national side to the Netball World Youth World Cup Qualifier and the following year, 2025, we will be competing at the World Cup.”
Ms Koster thanked the two Australian teams for the invaluable experience and high-quality matches they brought to the tournament.
“We can see that the level of competition among our players is very high, and this is good because it makes our players perform at their very best.”
