Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Israel Netball participates in the WYNC for the first time!

The girls of the Israel Netball youth squad made their presence felt from the first moment that they took to the court in Glasgow. At the Opening Ceremony of the World Youth Netball Championships (WYNC) on Thursday 22 August 2013, after all the twenty teams had marched in, the Israeli girls started singing and dancing to the music. Some of the other countries' players quickly followed suit contributing greatly to the fun-filled atmosphere in the impressive surroundings of the Emirates Arena. From that moment and throughout the tournament our girls were noted for their charm, enthusiasm and tremendous spirit by all those who attended this prestigious INF event.

The draw for the first round of the competition, which had taken place several months previously, placed our girls in the toughest group against opponents Australia, South Africa, Fiji and Namibia, whose final placings were 2nd, 5th, 9th and 11th respectively.

Our Under-21s were no match for either the Australians (123-6) or the South Africans (134-4) whose players were much older, much taller and much more experienced than our team – it should be noted that some of our players have only been playing for about a year.

In the game against Fiji we were more successful when we scored what was – for us – an outstanding total of 20 goals (to their 82). Namibia, who were also first-time entrants, beat us by 98-9.

The second round, in which the teams were far more evenly matched, put us in the group playing for 17th-20th place. Despite the squad's best efforts, we were unsuccessful against Malta (28-69), the Cayman Islands (26-71), and the Republic of Ireland (37-47), and finished in last place.

Our main objective in participating in this event was to give our girls the rare opportunity of playing against other countries' teams and to give them a unique experience which we hope will encourage them to further improve their play and to inspire others to ensure that the future of Israel Netball becomes increasingly brighter.

Squad members:

·        Nomi Komar (Captain)
·        Tal Adani
·        Yael Chitiz
·        Maayan Eytan
·        Chaya Komar
·        Talia Kur
·        Michal Lieberman
·        Hadar Markowitz
·        Chava Neeman
·        Tehila Neeman
·        Efrat Ozeri
·        Talya Sterman

Accompanying the squad to the WYNC were:

·        Jodi Carreira – Coach
·        Tal Segev – Manager
·        Dr. Gilon Gobrin – Team Doctor

Alongside the tournament:

·        Judy Aknin and Carol Levin attended the bi-annual INF Congress.
·        Judy and Tal attended a 3-day Coaching and Officiating Seminar delivered by the top names in international netball.
·        Judy and Tal gave a very well-received presentation on Israel Netball's efforts in Safeguarding at the INF Seminar on that topic.

 Click here for full World Youth Netball Championships Gallery