NETBALL AROUND THE WORLD

Posted: Sun Dec 20, 2009 2:43 am

Corry wrote:

Quote:

Meanwhile, in a stench-packing factory in Saigon...

Any other Goon show fans here?

Joined: 03 Feb 2007 Posts: 9856 Location: Adelaide

RSI wrote:

Is that from the cardboard replica of the chateau or something else?

From the episode:

The Case of the Missing CD Plates
or
A Strange Case of Diplomatic Immunity

(One of a number of episodes we have on CD!)

Script is online here:
http://goonshowscripts.afraid.org/raw/series06/s06e05c.html

But for those who don't do links, here are the completely pointless and unrelated to the story excerpts.

Greenslade: Meanwhile, in a teahouse in Saigon:
FX: [Pointless Milliganish music with slight oriental tones, sped up]
Greenslade: We just thought you'd be interested... We return you now to our story

....

Greenslade: Meanwhile, in a stench-packing factory in Saigon...
FX: [Pointless Milliginish music with slight oriental tones, sped up, ending in pst, tck, vng]
Greenslade: We return you now to where we left off.

...

Greenslade: And so, Seagoon took a ship for Titicaca. Meanwhile, in a notorious fish shop in Baryschool in Yoshiwara...
[considerable silence]
Greenslade: By Jove, I do believe they're closed!

Joined: 04 Feb 2007 Posts: 34037

http://www.netball.org/news.aspx?id=359

NETBALL AROUND THE WORLD:
18 DECEMBER 2009

Northern Ireland overturned the world rankings to take the Nations Cup title for 2009, with a 49-34 win over Scotland in Singapore last weekend. Canada took third place in the competition, with a 53-37 win over Tanzania. Ranked 19th at the start of the competition, Northern Ireland were in devastating form throughout the tournament, remaining undefeated and registering some impressive scores. They are currently ranked 15th. Check out the updated rankings on the IFNA website.

As a result of their participation in the competition, Tanzania received a welcome boost for their international exposure with an invitation for an overseas training tour to the UK in April 2010. The Taifa Queens will play a series of matches in Manchester and Scotland.

Jamaica Netball Association’s 2009-10 season started this week with the traditional Jo Wigman Rally, held in Kingston. 68 teams, including four new sides, will take part in this year’s competitions and aim to wrest the rally title from Waulgrovians 'A' and league title from Jamalco.

In Brunei, more than 100 players took part in a special tournament this week to raise money for the Indonesia Earthquake and Philippine Typhoon Humanitarian Fund. Organised by the country’s Youth and Sport Department, the competition also aimed to encourage more physical activity, and participation in the game, among Brunei’s women and girls. Following the competition, a coaching clinic was held for players aged 12 and under, to assist in the development of basic skills, as part of a programme leading up to the 2014 Mini Asian School Games, which Brunei will host.

The UK’s Co-operative Netball Superleague is now under way, with new side Surrey Storm and former champions Mavericks tied at the top of the table after two matches. Storm blew Team Northumbria away 70-16, before travelling to the North West to defeat Northern Thunder 35-50. Mavericks beat Celtic Dragons 62-28, and overcame a spirited challenge from Leeds Carnegie 54-31.

Congratulations to former Silver Ferns shooter Daneka Wipiti, who this week gave birth to her first child, daughter Kilani Mae, this week. Wipiti is expected to return for pre-season training with the Southern Steel after the festive break, and is aiming to return to competitive netball for the start of the ANZ Championships.

Contiki Holidays has been named as title sponsor for the second year of Netball Singapore’s Beach Netball festival. The competition, to take place on Sentosa Beach in March, will feature womens’ and mixed teams aged 18-35, in line with Contiki’s holidaymaker profile.

Finally, GKs across the world breathed a sigh of relief this week after it was announced that, for now at least, the world’s tallest teenager has switched from netball to basketball. Jamaican U16 star Marvadene Anderson, just under 6ft 11” tall and still growing, has taken up a place at Rutgers Prep High School in New Jersey USA on a basketball scholarship, but has not ruled out a return to netball at some stage in her career.

Joined: 04 Feb 2007 Posts: 34037

http://www.netball.org/news.aspx?id=360

NETBALL AROUND THE WORLD
23 DECEMBER 2009

Congratulations to Tanzania’s Taifa Queens, who gained their first international ranking, of 22, thanks to their performances in the recent Nations Cup in Singapore. In Africa, this ranks the country in fourth place, behind Malawi, South Africa and Botswana.

Fiji has named Unaisi Rokoura and Taina Rabitu as its new coaching partnership, as the national squad prepares for the Pacific Series in June. Rokoura coached Fiji at the recent Pacific Mini Games, while Rabitu was the assistant coach of Fiji’s U21 squad. They take over from Melissa Walker, who was recently named the new head coach of Wales.

In Jamaica, inspirational defender Kasey Evering is responding well to rehabilitation after a second knee surgery. Evering, who last represented Jamaica at the 2007 World Netball Championships in New Zealand, sustained an ACL / meniscus injury earlier this year and first had surgery in June. However, this was unsuccessful and so she took the decision to undergo further surgery with the aim of returning to international competition in the spring.

Netball Australia has announced that the Diamonds will continue an intensive programme of preparation for the Commonwealth Games with a three match test series against Jamaica in August next year. The matches will be staged in Melbourne, Sydney and, for the first time, on the Gold Coast and the Diamonds will be keen to regain the mental advantage after recently suffering a shock one goal loss to the Sunshine Girls in Kingston.

In the UK’s Superleague, Mavericks defeated Leeds Carnegie 54-31 and Northern Thunder scored their first win of the season with a 66-36 victory over Celtic Dragons. Cheryl Danson, former chair of England Netball, has been returned to office after a meeting of the body’s board of directors and consultation with representatives from England Netball’s regions. Former international Lyn Carpenter has been named as England Netball’s vice chairman until the organisation’s 2011 AGM.

Congratulations to former Silver Fern Vilimaina Davu who married her long time partner this week. Davu, who also coached Fiji at the last World Netball Championships, is based in Auckland and played for the Northern Mystics in last year’s ANZ Championships.

Very best wishes for a happy Christmas and a successful 2010 to all our members and supporters from all at IFNA.

Joined: 04 Feb 2007 Posts: 34037

http://www.netball.org/news.aspx?id=361

NETBALL AROUND THE WORLD:
31 JANUARY 2009

Fiji could be touring New Zealand and Australia before the 2010 Pacific Cup, according to the country’s Netball Association President Milika Munivai, if funding can be arranged. The Pacific Cup will act as a qualifying round for the 2011 World Championships, and Munivai has committed the Association to ensuring that Fiji’s side, currently ranked ninth in the world, is as well prepared for the competition as possible. Trials for the national side will take place in January.

In the Solomon Islands, netball continues to develop, with seven teams from the Aro region – which includes six small villages – competing in a newly established tournament. Cash prizes will be offered to the winners, while the tournament will also provide an opportunity to extend awareness of healthcare messages among these more isolated communities.

Youngsters in central Trinidad were this week treated to a day of fun in an effort to unearth netball talent! In an initiative from the Ministry of Sport and Youth Affairs, the “Women Uniting in Netball” programme was held at the Central Regional Indoor Sports Auditorium. Players from six schools and community teams from the Caroni district, aged 7-17, took part in a day of skills and development work, with several identified to take part in the forthcoming Trinidad and Tobago U16 trials. Green Marines won the senior competition held during the day, while the junior title went to Couva West, a community team. Members of the Trinidad and Tobago U21 side which recently completed a successful tour to Curacao also attended the event.

Netball Australia’s junior development programme, San Remo NetSetGO!, has featured in the 2009 Australian Sports Commission (ASC) Media Awards. Inside Sport journalist Travis Cranley took out “Best Journalism on Community Sport” for his article "Kiddie Wars" which compared junior sports development programmes.

Severe winter weather forced the postponement of the eagerly awaited English Superleague fixture between Loughborough Lightning and reigning champions TeamBath in the week before Christmas. The match will be rescheduled for the new year. Meanwhile, Surrey Storm, Mavericks and Leeds Carnegie are tied at the top of the table with two wins apiece. Oldham leads Academy by one point in the national clubs Premier 1 competition.

It has been announced that the Singaport Superleague will expand to seven teams in 2010. The competition, which starts in March, will feature three new teams – Bedok BB, Nike and Sneakers – as well as the Singapore U21 side, Malaysian national team and two sides comprised of players selected at trials which will be held in January. The Grand Final for the competition is scheduled to take place on 18 May.

Very best wishes for a peaceful and successful 2010 to all our members and supporters from everyone at IFNA! Happy New Year!

Joined: 04 Feb 2007 Posts: 34037

Quote:

31 JANUARY 2009

Boy, this year's REALLY flying by. Feels just like yesterday that it was New Year's Day.

Joined: 02 Feb 2007 Posts: 331

Actually, they wrote this piece nearly a year ago if you go by the date!! Someone can see into the future! Laughing

Joined: 04 Feb 2007 Posts: 34037

Oops, didn't even notice that they got the year wrong as well. Doh

Joined: 04 Feb 2007 Posts: 34037

http://www.netball.org/news.aspx?id=362

NETBALL AROUND THE WORLD
8 JANUARY 2010

With the Commonwealth Games only months away, the Indian government has announced that the Thyagaraj Stadium, where the netball competition will be played, will now be ready in February, a delay of two months. This has been caused by a late start in laying of the specialised wooden flooring at the stadium. Thyagaraj, India’s first green stadium, will also be the first government building in the country to use a gas based turbine for its power needs and will use some of the one million watts of electricity which is expected to be generated from solar panels on its roof.

Construction for the 2014 Commonwealth Games venues in Glasgow has commenced this week, with ground broken for the £95 million National Indoor Sports Arena and Velodrome near Celtic Park, to the east of the city. Once completed, the NISA will become the home of the Scottish netball team who will train and play international matches in the 5,000 seater stadium.

Two months after returning to netball after a six year break, former Sunshine Girl Carla Williams has this week indicated that she wants to resume her international career with the Jamaican senior team. After taking time off from the sport to complete a liberal arts degree at the University of Miami, Williams has approached the Jamaica Netball Association and expressed an interest in rejoining the national programme. Recently signed by the Adelaide Thunderbirds for the next ANZ Championship season, Williams was a key player in Jamaica’s bronze medal World Championship team of 2003, and with Simone Forbes recently announcing a break for her international career, the scene appears set for Williams to step into her shoes.

Still in Jamaica, the JNA/Jamaican Building Society Open League resumes this week with reigning champions Jamalco looking to international shooter Romelda Aitken to help them to an easy win against new side UTech, who will be without four of their regular players. Former champions Tivoli Gardens will also be in action this weekend.

The Cayman Netball League starts again on 16 January after a break of two months and a record number of teams is expected to take part in the competition, which is broken into two divisions. All Stars, having won the mixed league title in November, will be hoping to add the main league crown to their trophy cabinet, but will expect stiff competition from Roma, last year’s beaten finalists.

Singapore Netball has announced that entries for the upcoming Contiki Beach Netball Festival are looking encouraging. In line with Contiki’s age brackets for tours and holidays, the competition will be open to 18-35 year olds in three sections: women’s U23, women’s open age group and mixed open age group. A maximum of 60 teams can take part in the one day competition and entry levels are already high.

Matches in the UK’s Superleague have been hit by severe winter weather this weekend, with six matches postponed so far as a result of the icy conditions which are severely hampering travel. The games postponed include the hotly awaited contest between Surrey Storm and Mavericks, both currently unbeaten at the top of the table.

Congratulations to all those in the netballing community who were recognised in the Queen’s New Years Honours List. Among those decorated are Netball New Zealand director John Bonguard, a former director of electrical giant Fisher & Paykel, who was made an officer of the New Zealand order of merit. Heather Crouch, former England Netball coach and current chair of England’s South West region, and Doreen Wilcocks, who has given more than 60 years voluntary service to netball in England, were both awarded the MBE. Many congratulations to them and all of the other netballing recipients of honours.

Joined: 04 Feb 2007 Posts: 34037

http://www.netball.org/news.aspx?id=363

Netball Weekly Roundup
15 January 2010

The world’s top two netballing nations have this week started their build ups to the Commonwealth Games in Delhi. New Zealand’s Silver Ferns have travelled to Brisbane, Australia for a ten day training camp during which coach Ruth Aitken will help them to acclimatise to the heat and humidity that they will experience in India. The players will take part in four sessions a day, working with a range of sports science experts from the New Zealand Academy of Sport, including strength and conditioning trainers, physiologists and power specialists.

Reigning world champions, the Australian Diamonds have announced that they will be without five players for their upcoming tour of England and Australia next month. Captain Sharelle McMahon, Julie Corletto and Susan Furhmann are all recovering from knee surgery, while shooter Catherine Cox had a foot ligament removed last week and midcourter Lauren Norse has work commitments. Coach Norma Plummer has announced that the full squad will attend a selection camp in Canberra from 27 January, before the selected players depart for the UK on 8 February. Two changes have been made to Australia’s national selection panel, with former Australian captain Anne Sargent and Nicole Cusack replacing Carole Sykes and Sue Kenny to select the Commonwealth Games team.

Fiji’s selectors have named 41 players in a national training squad to prepare for the Pacific Series in June. Centre courter 14 year old Leba Korovou is the youngest player ever named in Fiji’s national squad, and will join the other players at final trials scheduled for 6 March to contest a place in the Pacific Series squad.

Marva Bernard, President of the Jamaican Netball Association (JNA), will today receive the keys to a five bedroom house – a gift from the Jamaican government. The house, located in the upmarket Barbican area of St Andrew, will be used to house players from the island’s various national programmes during training camps, seminars and meetings and is expected to save JNA over $1 million in expenses a year.

Congratulations to inspirational former Australian netball captain Liz Ellis, who this week was inducted into the Sports Australia Hall of Fame (SAHOF). Ellis was one of eight of Australia’s most decorated sportsmen and women, including cricketer Shane Warne and former rugby union captain George Gregan, who were recognised at a glittering ceremony at the National Sports Museum in Melbourne.

Joined: 04 Feb 2007 Posts: 34037

http://www.netball.org/news.aspx?id=364

Netball Weekly Roundup
25 January 2010

Pre-season preparations for the third season of the ANZ Championships are now well under way, with two warm up tournaments confirmed for the franchises.

The Southern Steel will once again host a three day tournament in February, featuring the Queensland Firebirds as well as Kiwi sides Northern Mystics, Central Pulse, Tactix and the Steel. The Australian Institute of Sport will complete the line up for the tournament.

The competition’s official pre-season tournament will then take place at the start of March, when the Sydney Olympic Park (SOPA) Netball Cup is staged with seven of the competition’s ten teams committed to playing. Home side the NSW Swifts, winners of the SOPA Cup in 2008 and 2009, will face stiff competition from the Adelaide Thunderbirds, the Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel, Central Pulse, Melbourne Vixens, Queensland Firebirds and the West Coast Fever as the teams look to finalise combinations ahead of the 2010 ANZ Championships.

The Cayman Islands Netball Association Senior League launched its 2010 season this week, with an expanded competition split into two divisions. With interest in the game continuing to grow throughout the Islands, a national U16 trial has also been held, with the selected players travelling to represent their country in Barbados at the Caribbean U16 championships at Easter.

In Zimbabwe, netball is also rising up the sporting agenda, with the Bulawayo Netball Association looking to integrate teams from the country’s Community Sports Development Programme (CSDP) into their regular league competition. It is hoped that these plans will not only increase the number of people taking part in regular netball sessions but will also drive the standard of play up and ultimately improve the standard of the country’s international teams.

Former Fijian international Simone Nalatu has expressed an interest in returning to her country’s national team by making herself available for the final Pacific Cup trials to be held in Suva in March. Currently based in Queensland, Nalatu is expected to line up with other overseas-based international Talei Bari, Marjorie Parr, Sala Hide and Lusi Robanakadavu when the final trials for the 2010 side take place on 6 March.

With the severe weather conditions in the UK abating, the fixtures backlog in the Netball Superleague is starting to resolve itself. Surrey Storm continue to lead the table with three wins from three, after a 64-29 win against Leeds Carnegie, with former champions Mavericks and TeamBath close behind. This week, Storm hosts TeamBath in the match up of the round, while former finalists Loughborough Lightning will be looking to score the side’s first win of the season against close rivals Mavericks.

Joined: 04 Feb 2007 Posts: 34037

http://www.netball.org/news.aspx?id=369

Netball Weekly Roundup
01 February 2010

England Netball has named a 12 player squad to face Australia in a three match test series in February. Veterans Karen Atkinson and Sonia Mkoloma have once again been named as co-captains, while TeamBath’s Stacey Francis is named in the match squad for the first time. The full squad list is: Karen Atkinson (co-captain), Sara Bayman, Eboni Beckford Chambers, Louisa Brownfield, Jade Clarke, Pamela Cookey, Rachel Dunn, Stacey Francis, Tamsin Greenway, Jo Harten, Geva Mentor, Sonia Mkoloma (co-captain).

Meanwhile, the Australian Diamonds have undergone a week-long training and selection camp in Canberra, with five senior players (captain Sharelle McMahon, Julie Corletto, Catherine Cox, Susan Fuhrmann and Lauren Nourse) missing through injury or work commitments. Coach Norma Plummer will name her touring team on Monday, ahead of two tests against Scotland and the three against England.

Tanzania’s president Jakaya Kikwete has this week given netball, and his country’s national side, a welcome boost, by offering to employ an expatriate coach for the Taifa Queens. Impressed by the Tanzania Amateur Netball Association (Chaneta)’s efforts to boost participation and promote the game across the country, President Kikwete is keen to ensure that the Queens continue to progress and has committed the government to paying the coach’s salary and living expenses. Applications are already being received by Chaneta and the organisation is confident of improving on Tanzania’s first international ranking, which was obtained at the end of 2009. The Taifa Queens are expected to undertake a training tour in England and Scotland in March.

Netballers in Sri Lanka have also been encouraged this week with the opening of the new Mahinda Rajapaksa International Stadium in Diyagama by President Rajapaksa. The stadium, the second biggest in the country, has extensive netball facilities which, it is hoped will be regularly used to encourage increased participation from across the country.

And in Pakistan, netball is to be included in the country’s National Games for the first time, when they are contested in March. Provincial teams from across Pakistan will take part in the six day competition, to be staged in Peshawar.

Fiji’s new national coach is insisting that the 25 players selected at the country’s March trials will need to remain in the country for training before the final 12 member team for the Pacific Games is selected on 1 May. Una Rokoura has made the announcement to ensure that her team is able to prepare effectively for the competition. Regular training sessions are now being held with the eastern- and western-based squads ahead of the trials, while the overseas-based players have been given their own personalised training plans.

Joined: 04 Feb 2007 Posts: 34037

http://www.netball.org/news.aspx?id=371

Netball Weekly Roundup
05 February 2010

With five senior players unavailable due to injury or work commitments, Australian Netball Diamonds coach Norma Plummer has named a young and internationally inexperienced squad for the upcoming tour of Scotland and England. Six of the players named have each achieved less than ten caps, while the squad has a combined total of 194 international appearances – 28 less than the five players who are unable to tour (who have 222 test caps). West Coast Fever’s Madison Browne will be the only uncapped player to tour while Natalie von Bertouch will captain the side in the absence of Sharelle McMahon. The full Australian Diamonds squad for the UK tour is: Caitlin Bassett, Kate Beveridge, Madison Browne, Rebecca Bulley, Bianca Chatfield, Laura Geitz, Mo’onia Gerrard (vice captain), Kimberlee Green, Renae Hallinan, Natalie Medhurst, Susan Pratley, Natalie von Bertouch (captain).

With the Commonwealth Games in Delhi only months away, South Africa’s Proteas have been set stringent performance targets by the country’s sports governing body if they are to take part in the competition. The South African Sports Confederation and Olympic Committee have decreed that the team will have to be among the top five in the world rankings before they can take to the court in Delhi. The Proteas are currently ranked sixth in the world but hope to improve their standing after matches against Malawi, New Zealand and Samoa in the next few months.

Former South African captain Nthabiseng Moabi has been named in the Proteas squad for 2010 after a two year sabbatical from the game. Shooters Christine Markgraaff and Sindy Gumede, who last lined up for South Africa in the 2007 World Championships, have also been recalled to the Proteas line up. The full 2010 South African squad is: Claudia Basson, Chrisna Bootha, Erin Burger, Zukelwa Cwaba, Elzet Engelbrecht, Sindiswe Gumede, Maryke Holtzhausen, Christine Markgraaff, Zanele Mdodane, Nthabiseng Moabi, Precious Mthembu, Amanda Mynhardt, Liezel Wium, Leigh Ann Zackey,

Preparations for the third season of the ANZ Championship continue to build, with New Zealand’s Southern Sting announcing two key appointments this week. Jo Cunningham, who played for the Southern Sting in New Zealand’s NBC competition and coached both Southland’s U19 squad as well as the Sting’s development side, has been appointed assistant coach of the Southern Steel. The Steel will this season be captained by former Australian international Megan Dehn, who will be lining up for the Southland-based side for the third year.

IFNA President Molly Rhone has this week lent her support to a new initiative in Jamaica which encourages sports development at primary school level across the country. The President was speaking at the presentation ceremony of the Kiwanis Club of Kingston netball presentation, where she emphasised the importance of sport in developing the nation’s children.

England Netball has named its squad for the Netball Europe Open tournament in April. Featuring a blend of youth and experience, the squad contains eight members of England’s U21 team which took part in the World youth Championships in 2009, and will be captained by Eboni Beckford Chambers. The full squad line up is: Eboni Beckford Chambers (capt), Camilla Buchanan, Ella Clark, Sasha Corbin, Stacey Francis, Serena Guthrie, Jo Harten, Naida Hutchinson, Lindsay Keable, Sarah Jane O’Sullivan, Asha Tett, Monique Wood.

Finally, Brunei’s Ministry of Education Netball Championship continues this week with a very special royal participant. Her Royal Highness Paduka Seri Pengiran Anak Isteri is part of the UBD team which is taking part in the competition at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Sports Stadium, and her side is undefeated after the first two rounds of competition.

Joined: 03 Feb 2007 Posts: 9856 Location: Adelaide

"five senior players" ... hardly! Shaz & Corletto & maybe Cox on a good day will be missed but Fuhrmann & Nourse were hardly 'senior'...

Joined: 25 Jul 2007 Posts: 335

Corry wrote:

"five senior players" ... hardly! Shaz & Corletto & maybe Cox on a good day will be missed but Fuhrmann & Nourse were hardly 'senior'...

I wouldn't say any of them would be missed....the team that are going have already proved that, they are not missed!!! It annoys me that every article that you read ..says the same "With five senior players unavailable due to injuries etc etc... well I think a couple of these player should be getting very worried ....