Koster pleased with players’ performance

Netball Fiji chief executive officer Vivian Koster said she was pleased with the performances of players, particularly those from secondary schools, during the first day of the 2023 Digicel Punjas National Netball Championship in Suva yesterday.

The competition started at 9am, featuring a handful of talented players from the under-19 and under according to Koster.

“It’s just day one and I am already pleased with the performance of a number of players from different teams, especially those in the 19 and under division,” Koster said.

“We saw a little bit of young talent during the secondary school’s competition last week, and we are seeing them again today (yesterday).”

With a total of 34 teams participating in the competition at the National Netball Center in Suva, Koster mentioned she was happy with the turnout of fans to support the competition.

“There were a lot of spectators here today and it’s just very encouraging for us.

“We also have a wide range of teams from all over Fiji, as far as Kadavu, Ra and Koro Island, so there is a good mix of teams.”

She also mentioned that Netball Fiji was currently on the lookout for players for the national under-21 side to compete in the World Youth Netball Championship in 2025.

“So, we will be choosing a lot of the girls from this competition.

“They will first be taking part in the qualifiers next year, so we want to select a team before the end of the year.

“And from the looks of things, we can see a lot of talented players here in this competition that have a chance of making the team.”

Koster said even though Fiji has currently qualified for the World Youth Netball Championship, they still want to compete to help with preparations.

“So if we can select our team early, we will have a lot of time to prepare for 2025.”