NETBALL AROUND THE WORLD: 8 JANUARY 2010
With the Commonwealth Games only months away, the Indian government has announced that the Thyagaraj Stadium, where the netball competition will be played, will now be ready in February, a delay of two months. This has been caused by a late start in laying of the specialised wooden flooring at the stadium. Thyagaraj, India’s first green stadium, will also be the first government building in the country to use a gas based turbine for its power needs and will use some of the one million watts of electricity which is expected to be generated from solar panels on its roof.
Construction for the 2014 Commonwealth Games venues in Glasgow has commenced this week, with ground broken for the £95 million National Indoor Sports Arena and Velodrome near Celtic Park, to the east of the city. Once completed, the NISA will become the home of the Scottish netball team who will train and play international matches in the 5,000 seater stadium.
Two months after returning to netball after a six year break, former Sunshine Girl Carla Williams has this week indicated that she wants to resume her international career with the Jamaican senior team. After taking time off from the sport to complete a liberal arts degree at the University of Miami, Williams has approached the Jamaica Netball Association and expressed an interest in rejoining the national programme. Recently signed by the Adelaide Thunderbirds for the next ANZ Championship season, Williams was a key player in Jamaica’s bronze medal World Championship team of 2003, and with Simone Forbes recently announcing a break for her international career, the scene appears set for Williams to step into her shoes.
Still in Jamaica, the JNA/Jamaican Building Society Open League resumes this week with reigning champions Jamalco looking to international shooter Romelda Aitken to help them to an easy win against new side UTech, who will be without four of their regular players. Former champions Tivoli Gardens will also be in action this weekend.
The Cayman Netball League starts again on 16 January after a break of two months and a record number of teams is expected to take part in the competition, which is broken into two divisions. All Stars, having won the mixed league title in November, will be hoping to add the main league crown to their trophy cabinet, but will expect stiff competition from Roma, last year’s beaten finalists.
Singapore Netball has announced that entries for the upcoming Contiki Beach Netball Festival are looking encouraging. In line with Contiki’s age brackets for tours and holidays, the competition will be open to 18-35 year olds in three sections: women’s U23, women’s open age group and mixed open age group. A maximum of 60 teams can take part in the one day competition and entry levels are already high.
Matches in the UK’s Superleague have been hit by severe winter weather this weekend, with six matches postponed so far as a result of the icy conditions which are severely hampering travel. The games postponed include the hotly awaited contest between Surrey Storm and Mavericks, both currently unbeaten at the top of the table.
Congratulations to all those in the netballing community who were recognised in the Queen’s New Years Honours List. Among those decorated are Netball New Zealand director John Bonguard, a former director of electrical giant Fisher & Paykel, who was made an officer of the New Zealand order of merit. Heather Crouch, former England Netball coach and current chair of England’s South West region, and Doreen Wilcocks, who has given more than 60 years voluntary service to netball in England, were both awarded the MBE. Many congratulations to them and all of the other netballing recipients of honours.
ENDS