Sport
21 July, 2022
MNA get netball tournament back on court
The Maryborough Netball Association (MNA) held their first annual tournament in three years on Sunday, declaring the event a success. The tournament was able to yield a total of 18 teams across three age groups, with seven under 11 teams, four under...
The Maryborough Netball Association (MNA) held their first annual tournament in three years on Sunday, declaring the event a success.
The tournament was able to yield a total of 18 teams across three age groups, with seven under 11 teams, four under 13 teams and a combined under 15 and under 17 tournament getting seven teams.
In the end, Maryborough Castlemaine District Football Netball League representative teams were able to win in the under 13, under 15 and under 17 divisions, with the under 13 tournament providing a highlight as the final went into extra time.
The MNA’s Sarah Eldridge was happy that the tournament made its return, particularly with the amount of volunteers that helped get the competition off the ground on the day.
“We were happy with the tournament. We were hoping for more teams, but we did get enough for the competition to run,” she said.
“We had to contact a few people to get entries in, and they were happy to do that. It was an extremely good event given we hadn’t had a competition for two years. The weather could have been better of course, but the tournament was good. We had just finished presentations when the rain started falling heavily.
“The turnout from parents and supporters was quite good. We had KT’s doing a coffee van and we had the Lions Club there as well doing a barbecue. Considering we have a small volunteer base at the moment, a lot of people came in and helped out.”
Eldridge was impressed with the behaviour of all participants on the day, saying it added to the atmosphere of the tournament’s return.
“How well the kids behaved was a highlight, and people coming to the courts at the right time, particularly the under 11s, as a lot of them hadn’t played before — they took it on board and played very well. It was good to see them there having a go,” she said.
Eldridge said the MNA is looking to make next year’s tournament bigger and better, hoping to bring back the better teams from the Bendigo and Ballarat region.
“Our priority is getting the Bendigo and Ballarat teams back — this year they unfortunately couldn’t enter for whatever reason, but we’re hoping to get them back given their participation for many years in the tournament,” she said.
“We’re hoping to get 15s and 17s more involved as well — it’s a hard age group to work with in terms of available numbers.”
The MNA will be holding their next tournament in October when their twilight season gets underway, while the Association’s current season comes to a close on Tuesday night when they host their grand finals.