Twenty Athletes Have Been Named In Aotearoa Māori Netball’s 2022 Secondary School Squad

Twenty athletes have been named in Aotearoa Māori Netball’s 2022 Secondary School Squad, an exciting step in revitalising the movement's High Performance Programme after almost three years.

Following the return and success of the National Māori Netball Tournament held at Easter Weekend in Palmerston North – the first since 2019 – a further trial was scheduled and held at the ASB Stadium in Wellington at the end of May with 45 athletes in attendance.

Head Coach Jess Huia was thrilled with the outcome of the trial. “I am really proud that we were able to bring this together in such a short space of time. Coming off of Māori Netball Nationals in April, there was a real buzz across the motu. COVID has thrown a lot of uncertainty out across the sporting landscape over the last two years. The talent is alive and we had a tremendous group of young wahine attend the tournament and trial. Renee and I are excited to launch this programme and lead a new group of girls through. To see so many players transition across into New Zealand's National Netball League and ANZ Franchises who have been a part of our Aotearoa Māori Netball programme is really special and highlights the importance of our kaupapa and pathway. We have a lot of work to do and the bar has been set pretty high but we believe we have selected an experienced and youthful group who are up for the challenge”.

In 2019, under the management of Huia and assistant coach Renee Matoe, Aotearoa Māori Netball delivered a very successful high performance programme sending teams to compete at the Pacific Cup Tournament in Auckland and the International Schoolgirls Netball Challenge hosted in Palmerston North. Winning both events was a significant milestone for Māori Netball, highlighting the success of its programme.

The named squad will be monitored over the next couple of months with check in day camps in June and July. The final team of twelve will be named in August and come together to prepare for a couple of key events being planned for later in the year once school and main season representative netball commitments have concluded.

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