Netballers rewarded for great season with Fiji tournament trip
BANKSTOWN Sports Netball Club’s 14A team is preparing for a trip of a lifetime.
The Express
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BANKSTOWN Sports Netball Club’s 14A team players have been at the top of their game for the past four years, and now they will be rewarded with the trip of a lifetime.
Ten players head to Fiji on December 1 to take part in an International Netball Festival featuring teams from Australia, New Zealand and Fiji.
The week-long trip comes on the back of another successful season for young netballers, who beat East Hills to win the first division title.
It is the fourth premiership in as many years for the Bankstown team.
Coach Ashleigh Renton, 30, enjoyed a similar netball trip with the club to Vanuatu when she was about 12.
She said the Fiji trip was a reward for the 14As’ hard work.
“I got together with the parents and said ‘they’ve been playing together for a successful four years, why don’t we give them a memory that will last a lifetime ?’,” Renton said. “ It’s great to be able to play at an international tournament.
“They (the girls) are stoked, they’re all very excited ... they all get along so well and they’re very driven.”
The Bankstown team will compete for a trophy over three days in Lautoka.
But the players will also get some fantastic cultural experiences, including visiting a Fijian village, mud baths and hot springs and an island cruise.
Renton said the team was donating its old netball uniforms as well as books and pencils and other gifts to local teams and villages.
“They don’t have as much as we do, so it’s the least we can do,” she said.
Three players in the Bankstown team are Fijian.
Club president Julie Young said the girls were exemplary role models for the junior members of the club. “To win their grade over the past four years is a true example of their dedication to each other and shows the true meaning of team spirit,” Young said.
Renton, team manager Simone Frazer and 10 parents and family members will go with the girls.
“We’re all like a big family,” Renton said.
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