Australia win Netball World Youth Cup for first time since 2009

Australia has won the Netball World Youth Cup for the first time since 2009, beating fierce rivals New Zealand to end their quest for a hat-trick of titles.

Australia has won the Netball World Youth Cup for the first time since 2009, beating New Zealand 63-48 in the tournament’s first edition in eight years.

The Kiwis were pushing for a historic hat-trick of titles after winning the 2013 and 2017 editions before the planned 2021 tournament was scrapped due to the pandemic.

The great rivals, the only teams to have won the tournament, won through to the final in Gibraltar on Monday morning, with the Aussies snaring the title for the fifth time after a dominant second half.

Victorian goaler Lily Graham was named player of the tournament after an outstanding campaign to snare her second major trophy this season after being a member of the Vixens’ Super Netball premiership side.

After a tight first term, Graham gave the Aussies the lead for the first time heading into the opening break when her goal just before the hooter broke a 14-14 deadlock after the young Ferns had sprinted to an early lead.

The match continued to be a thriller in the second, with Australia taking a two-goal lead to halftime.

Coached by noted Adelaide Thunderbirds assistant and defensive expert Cathy Fellows, Australia turned the screws in the third, conceding just nine goals while converting their gains into goals for a 20-9 period that gave them a double-digit buffer heading into the last.

Australia’s starting seven included Super Netball regulars, shooters Lily Graham (Vixens) and Olivia Wilkinson (Fever) and Thunderbirds playmaker Kayla Graham at wing attack, while Giant Hope White slotted into the midcourt in the third term, helping ignite the breakaway.

The defensive end was led by Thunderbirds training partners Lucy Voyvodic (WD) and Tabitha Packer (GD), while Vixens training partner Charlotte Sexton started at goalkeeper.

Captain Sophie Casey, a Thunderbirds training partner who made her Super Netball debut earlier this year started at centre before lifting the trophy.

Fever reserves shooter Jasmah Haywood, Black Swans defender Scarlett Jauncey, Swifts training partner Freddie Schneideman and White were on the bench, joined by Swifts playmaker Grace Whyte, who missed the finals due to a nasty concussion sustained in the early stages of the tournament.

Earlier, teams from around the world endorsed the bid for netball to be included in the Brisbane 2032 Olympics.

World Netball chief executive Fiona Harold said the push continued to drive netball’s global ambitions.

“Alongside our new global events strategy, a top priority for World Netball right now is to strive for inclusion in the Olympic program,” Harold said.

“With Brisbane hosting the 2032 Games I have a strong belief that netball has a once in a generation opportunity to capitalise on the market position and strength of netball in Australia.

“So, I urge the Netball Family to back the bid, because it’s netball’s time.”

Originally published as Australia win Netball World Youth Cup for first time since 2009