MENA BOYS PLAY AT NATIONALS

ON Sunday 23rd March, MENA boys from the Norwood, Rangeview and Trinity Netball Clubs played in an exhibition match on centre court at Boroondara Sports Complex to open the Australian Men's and Mixed Netball Championships.

The Australian Men's and Mixed Netball Championships are the showcase event for men's netball in Australia, with state teams competing for national titles.

After a welcome and briefing for James McCallum (VMNL) the teams were decided and the players started warming up.  One team would consist of the 7 Trinity boys.  The other team consisted of 4 Norwood and 4 Rangeview boys.

5:00pm arrived and the players were ready.  The players moved into positions on centre court in front of a crowd of about 400 people.  After a nervous first minute, the boys settled right down and played some great netball.  Strong passing, leading and intercepts were highlights.  The crowd certainly enjoyed the match.  The noise, especially after a goal, was deafening.  The exhibition match was only 15 minutes long but it gave the boys plenty of time to show off their skills.  The final score was 5-5.  A fitting result for a tight skillful match.

After the match, the boys remained on centre court and flanked the main speakers during the opening ceremony and then received gifts from the VIC and QLD open players.  All players and parents were then invited to stay and watch the feature match between the VIC and QLD Men's Open teams featuring the best male players in the country.

The event was a great opportunity for the boys to play in front of a large crowd and I hope that they enjoyed the experience.  I know the crowd did.  Thank you to the parents for bringing the boys to the event.

A special thank you goes to Tracey Maile (Trinity) and Kerry Dean (Norwood) for organising their players on short notice, and in helping the association showcase our boy's competition (Fast & Furious) to a larger audience.  Thank you.

Steve Atkins