National netball coach Julene Meyer has welcomed the reactivation of nationwide schools netball, establishing a structured regional pathway to develop elite talent for future international competitions.
In a recent interview with Desert FM, Meyer said collaboration efforts with the Namibia Schools Sport Union (NSSU) codes committee held in the capital saw efforts to play netball countrywide.
“It was a wonderful event. For the first time since 2011, the national codes have gathered,” she said.
“I think it stems from exposure at international level.”
Meyer said it is vital that schools netball is vibrant, healthy, dynamic and active.
“If only we can get all the regions to be active . . . We understand that all the regions are unique, and they need different models to be active with their festive-style netball or league-style netball,” she said.
Meyer said for this to be a success, schools must have play-offs, and the play-offs need to be a national pathway for players to play in their own age groups.
“We don’t need under-14s playing in under-15 matches,” she said.
“Hopefully, we can translate all of that into a national pathway, and by the end of it you would have lots of exposed athletes with enough experience by the time they join the under-19 or under-21 squad,” she said.
“They would have six or seven years of national and international tours behind them, which would definitely help us at senior level.”
Meyer said the idea is to have national schools leagues, as well as regional leagues — be it festival style or classic style.
“They would first compete at regional level, followed by play-offs. From there, top performers would advance to national play-offs. It would give many more players the opportunity to go into regional finals and then into national finals.”
The collaborative engagement was represented by all 14 regions, considering ways to reactivate regional netball.
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