PSNA Competition Commence Finals

Next Saturday will see the first finals playoff for the PSNA competition for 2009/2010.

Today's games marked the end of the normal round robin games and the top teams in each division.  Though still not clear how the tables stand the announcement by the PSNA executive puts the season calendar back on track and the march toward the grand final begins in earnest next week.

(above) Lynn Uvaou - President of the PSNA addresses the meeting at Bisini today

At a meeting after the days matches at the Bisini courts this afternoon, President Lynn Uvaou and her executive went through various issues confronting the Association this season in an effort to conclude the season strongly and prepare for next season.

Several resolutions were passed including the ratification of a request to get the administration of the next season started off early and the endorsement of the need for a player to actually take the court for a minimum four games in order to be eligible to play for a particular team.  This particular ruling puts at odds the current practice of recognising reserves as eligible players even though they may never have taken the court.

Full details of minor premierships and the divisional ladders and the draws for next Saturday were not at hand this afternoon but it is expected that the matches next Saturday will start as early as 09:30 in the morning so you'll have to be early to catch those matches.

NTH will endeavour to have all the above details to you as early in the new week as is possible.


Near the Hoop
PNG's only Netball Newspaper

Show your Support For Our Pepe's

While announcing the train-on squad of 43 for the PNG Pepe's,  the PNG Netball Federation (PNGNF) also gave notice of a "netball Fun Day" earmarked for the 20th of March 2010.

It seems appropriate right now when there are so many corporations involved in the PCNC competition to see if we can't get them to also consider extending a tiny little bit more of their generosity to help send the PNG national netball side to the Pacific Netball Series in the Cook Islands in June this year and ultimately for 2010, to the Commonwealth Games in India.

Unlike the Cook Islands, Fiji and Samoa, PNG does not enjoy the inordinate amounts of government funding for development of their game.  In PNG it is Rugby League, Rugby Union and Soccer that enjoy that priviledge.  But despite its amateur status, PNG has managed to carve out a very respectable ranking of 12th from among 70 odd netball playing countries in the world.  That has come out of a dogged determination by the individuals on the national team to win and the unwavering tenacity of a small but solid administration.

 

(above) PNG Pepes in Singapore at the Nations Cup

 

(above) PNG brings home gold from Arafura

To salute the efforts of our Pepe's and the amazing leadership Mona-Lisa Leka and the senior players have shown over recent years to keep their minds and keeness sharp and their hunger for success strong, please make an effort to show them your support in March 2010.  Let the hum of your enthusiasm infect others, especially corporate PNG and help them to see through the success of the PCNC competition, the potential of netball in PNG.

Take note of the date - 20th March 2010 and help us support the Pepe's and demonstrate to corporate PNG that netball does not simply sit back and wait for total funding handouts, rather, it proactively does its part as a sport to fund its way.

Details are still not available of what the NF has in mind for 20th March 2010, but where you have the capacity to encourage your sponsor/employer to look at assisting, please do so for netball.

Images courtesy of Mike Petrides, Assistant Coach, PNG Pepe's.

Near the Hoop
PNG's only Netball Newspaper.

Multi Skilled Pepe's impress in Battle of the Codes Womens Super 8 Cricket - 9th Feb 2010

Earlier this month the Pepe's had been keeping moderately busy with light training as well as being involved in activities to keep their minds sharp.   In the first week of February the Pepe's accepted an invitation to participate in the Battle of the Codes Womens Super 8 Cricket series and in a show of finesse and power, the ladies made it all the way through to the Grand final.

Only the batting capabilities of women's cricketer Boni David wrestled the title away from the Pepes with one wicket in hand and a ball to spare.  Pepe's Lua Rikis won the grand final "woman of the match" with a gutsy batting performance.

The event was a fund raiser for the PNG Womens Cricket Team World Cup Qualifiers and a huge success.  Perhaps netball should be thinking of a similar scheme to attract potential sponsors to the game.

Well done girls.

Story extracted from PNG Netball's SportingPulse home page.  click on the link below to view the full story and images.

http://www.sportingpulse.com/assoc_page.cgi?client=2-1505-0-0-0&sID=14334&&news_task=DETAIL&articleID=11362056&sectionID=14334

Weekly Draws

For the benefit of netballers in the PSNA and PCNC competitions, "Near the Hoop" posts the Results and Draws each week as they come to hand.  As a permanent updated feature on the right hand panel (called the side bar) a section called Draws will be available for those wanting to check when and where they will play at the weekend.  When you click on the image (link) the postings will automatically scroll to the most current "Results and Draws" post for the week. 

You can then click on either results or draws image to display the schedule on your monitor.  If the link is not updated, it simply means NTH has still not received the draws when you enquired.

We hope this will add convenience to your use of the page.

Cheers

Near the Hoop
PNG's only Netball Newspaper

Popularity of Off-Season Netball grows in POM

If popularity can be measured by participation, then you would have to concede that the off-season concept of sports is a hit.

For netball particularly, The competition has a social dimension as it is a focal point where friends and family can meet and enjoy the moment or settle back watch the day unfold.  It has a qualitative aspect as well as it enables participants to take ownership of a team for the day, enjoy something to brag about and foster bonding among workmates and friends.  Seeing the car park full for most of the day is testament to the competitions success and if you don't believe me, come down to the courts at about 1:30 or 2:00 in the afternoon this Sunday and see for yourself.  The images below do not tell a lie.

Here you’ll often find siblings playing against each other, proudly representing the company teams they work for, or daughters playing for the company that dad/mum works for.  You’ll see daughters playing alongside mum and on the odd occasion, even dad will make himself conspicuous on the periphery, making it a great family day out.

Public servants have a separate competition on Saturdays where the various government departments and instrumentalities have teams to compete in the Public Servants Netball Association competition but the same kinship applies there as many will attest to.  Of course all the disciplines of punctuality and fitness have to be observed because for those not being careful, an injury in netball can be an uncomfortable experience.

The biggest surprise for NTH recently is seeing a greater number of fathers, uncles, dads and boyfriends attending the courts especially on Sundays to watch and barrack for their teams.  It is a change of direction but we have noticed more getting involved in lending a helping hand.  They have even been noticed offering encouraging word of support at half time and barracking on the sidelines.  It is good to see.

The thing that hits you first when you approach the courts each Sunday is the explosion of colour as the different uniforms quickly catch your attention and then it's the carnival atmosphere that keeps your attention until you enter the main gates.   The kaleidecope of uniforms gives the competition and the day flare and is what keeps you interested.  With courts 8 and 9 now being used to accomodate growth in the competition, the game is undoubtedly enjoying a popularity boom.

There are ten divisions in this year's PCNC competition with eight teams in each division.  That means there are 80 active teams registered which equates to approximately 1,000 players invading the courts each Sunday to contest this growing sport.  Add the supporters, the officials, the drink and buai sellers and connoisseurs of lamb flaps and there is quite a sizeable presence at the courts for the afternoon.  The PSNA has perhaps half the numbers of the PCNC and have some rebuilding to do for their competition after a sluggish 2008/2009 season.  Several seasons ago it was the other way around, and the PSNA was the competition rejecting teams simply to keep things manageable.

the matches themselves are an abbreviated version of the game with only 15 minute halves which means if your there only to play, then it does not take too long for you to be on your way again.  Appropriate for the blistering heat of Port Moresby, but what's the sense in staying for only an hour when  there’s so much fun to be had and so much to see.

There are friends to chat with, family to catch up with, gossip to exchange and then there’s the real event to watch when the powerhouses of the competition clash in the premier division.  The snappy passes, the blistering speed of the court coverage, the clever maneuvers, the classic catches and intercepts and of course the bloopers always make the day a fun event.

Despite being sore and tired each weekend, it’s just simply a great Sunday or Saturday get away that brings everybody back each weekend.

See you at the courts.

Near the Hoop
PNG's only Netball Newspaper.

PSNA Game Images Posted

Hey, we've finally been able to clean up and post images from last Saturdays PSNA competition games.

Just like the PCNC, The PSNA have had to double up games over this early part of this year to bring it to par so for many teams they have had to play extra games in order for the season to end on time.  Finance have a snazzy new uniform which is what caught my attention this season.  The Green and Yellow snappy one piece is certainly an eye catcher.......

In the midday games one stand out game was PNG Forest Authority and Treasury, where as a standout from last season, Treasury were in all sorts in the first half of their game, managing to return to some respectability in the second half but the important thing was that they had fun........ and a bad case of sunburn.  Boy was it a hot one.

We still have to establish what stage the competition is at and hopefully we can do that over the next few days, but when it comes to skill, there is no doubting the quality of netball, just ask Telikom who are enjoying a run of comfortable wins and enjoying their netball.  Hell its a social competition so why not enjoy it.

 
This weekend sees February close and that means that for both PSNA and PCNC, we must soon be looking at the finals.  Amazing how time flies but the last two months have been solid netball people.

You wouldn't have thought so but the off-season netball has been the only well organised sporting competition of all the sports in the Capital so be comfortable and give yourselves a pat on the back.

Enjoy the images, they are only some of what is in the gallery on the right hand panel so go there to see the rest.  See you at the courts.

Apologies to our PSNA members

Our humble apologies to our PSNA scapers who have asked for scores and draws to be published as we do for the PCNC.  Near the Hoop has requested information from President Lynn Avua over the last two weeks but has not been able to open up any useful dialogue.

Once that communication channel is open, be assured we will be providing the details on this page.

Again our apologies.



Near the Hoop
PNG's only Netball Newspaper

Scores for 21st Feb and Draws for 28th Feb - PCNC

Hitolo Moka has been a busy been ensuring we get the results and draws early so here they are.  Once the catch up games have been played out, a table for each division will be posted to give you all and idea where you stand in the lineup.

Results are as follows;  (To enlarge simply double click on the image)

 

 

And the Draws for this Sundays Games are;

 

Please check your venue and times and be there early for a prompt start to scheduled matches.  All teams are asked to please ensure team sheets are returned to the officials table well before the start of games.

See you all at the courts



Near the Hoop
PNG's only Netball Newspaper

Pic of the Week - 21 Feb 2010

This weeks pic of the week was a hard one because there were some decent images from the PSNA comp on Saturday but the one we've chosen is this beauty from the premier division BSP vs Fairdeal Liquor's game on Sunday afternoon.

Soaring above them all, both attack and defence in full flight.  Not a bad pic if I'd say so myself.

I wish we could offer a prize, but alas that has to wait for another day and another time.

Hope you approve of the images we've provided in the NTH galleries.  We'd love some feed back either by email or as comments on these pages.


Near the Hoop
PNG's only Netball Newspaper

PCNC Competition pics for Sunday 21 Feb 2010, posted - 118 images

Hey folks,

We've managed to post 118 images from Sunday's games. Even these didn't cover the games played on courts 8 and 9.  We'll try and concentrate on these courts next week.  A long way to cover for photo's but we'll manage somehow.

We hope you enjoy them and if you see any you'd like the high resolution image for.  please let us know.  When you buy the pics, it helps us manage the cost of gettign these images to you.

Picasa, the image gallery viewer is a bit confusing and so you'll find several galleries with differing numbers of images in them.  Last Sunday's gallery has 118 images for you to enjoy.

Our little slide show comes from this gallery.

Here's a sample of the images in the gallery for Sunday 21 Feb 2010

These are simply a teaser for the images in the gallery section.  Just click on one of the images to enter the gallery.  At the top of the page click the gallery header to give you the choice of images.  We are aware that different viewing software display differently depending on what your system so let us know if you have any problems viewing the images and well try to have the matter resolved as soon as.

If there is a particular photo you want taken next week, such as a team picture etc., just let us know before next week witherr by email or by just droppign a comment in the comment bracket and we'll see what we can do.  If your team is going to show off new uniforms etc., again let us know.




Address for contacting us is displayed after the slideshow on the right hand panel of this page.


Enjoy.



Near the Hoop
PNG's only Netball Newspaper