The National Netball Championship has returned after a two-year hiatus and the netball playing provinces are once again congregating in Port Moresby to showcase their talents.
While it was great to have the event back up and running, it was even more special for the Gulf Provincial Netball team, who made their return to the Netball National Championship for the first time in 12 years.
The Gulf Provincial Netball team last appeared in the PNG Netball National Championship in 2012. It has been a while but the love for the code had persisted over the years and manifested this year with their come-back. They returned to the tournament with smiles on their faces.
“Gulf has missed out on this event for almost 13 years because the Gulf Netball Association never existed due to the reason that PNG Netball has different Strcuture,” Gulf Netball Association Vice President Josephine Mero said.
When expressing her gratitude for the team for making it to the tournament, she also acknowledged the effort of the member for Kerema Thomas Opa and the governor Chris Haiveta for assisting the teams with logisitics.
“We are blessed because of our provincial governor Chriss Haiveta and our Kerema open member Thomas Opa who both came in at this time where we needed assistance so they are both behind our back supporting us.”
The Gulf Provincial Netball Team filed a team each in all the divisions in the National Championship tournament. They are expected to be regulars in the National Championship given that they are now qualified to participate in the tournament under the new structure.
President of Netball PNG Ulato Avei said it was great to see the Gulf Netball team return to the compeititon after a while. She also welcomed the teams from Kairuku and Autonomous Region of Bougainvillewho are participating in the championship for the first time.