Big changes in Premier netball
Back to court: Kaierau's Eleanor Hogan marks WHS goal defence Kahurangi Sturmey during the 2016 Premier 1 final. The 2017 season starts on Monday.
It will be a fresh-looking Netball Whanganui Premier 1 competition taking court at Springvale Stadium on Monday night, with eight teams making it through grading while a perennial semifinalist has exited the competition.
The Top 4 from 2016 were permitted automatic entry to this year's competition so defending champions Kaierau A1, runnersup Phillips Electrical WHS A1 and Mere Te Aroha went straight through.
However, WA Sports have not returned this year.
Originally founded as SportsEdge in 2013 by coach Trish Anstis and manager Tina Priddle, the side made the semifinals in their debut season and were regular contenders for the playoffs, including last year when they were barely edged out of a grand final appearance by WHS 45-43.
Anstis has moved away from Whanganui with her partner for farming, with the remaining members of the team having been soaked up by the other clubs.
To fill the remaining five places for 2017, six teams were split into two pools for grading.
On the first weekend it was Marist A1 and Kaiwhaiki who went through relatively unchallenged in their games.
The competition really heated up in the last round robin of four teams, as Taihape and Ruapehu drew 24-24, then Marist A2 beat Collegiate 25-24.
The last round saw Taihape beat Marist A2 36-20 and then Collegiate 28-24 in a game of two halves, where the school team was leading at halftime but could not hang on.
So Week 1 of Premier 1 will see Taihape vs Kaiwhaiki and Kaierau A1 vs Ruapehu at 6pm, followed by Mere Te Aroha vs Marist A2 and WHS A1 vs Marist A2 at 7.45pm.
In an historic change, at the December AGM the membership voted for the governing body to change its official name from Netball Wanganui to Netball Whanganui.
The executive committee first received a request about adding the 'H' in March of 2016, to align themselves with the official river and district name.
Operations manager Parekura Muraahi said the matter was discussed over the course of the year, and in September the executive was addressed by the Chair of Awa Sports, who it was felt was the appropriate body to speak on behalf of iwi and provide information.
"The executive committee acknowledged that our centre takes its name from our city, which draws its name from the Whanganui river - the meaning of which is translated as 'whanga - bay" and "nui - big'," said Muraahi.
"We see this as a simple a matter of correcting the spelling of a name and more importantly showing respect for one of the official languages of this country."
By Staff Reporter
Wanganui Chronicle 27/5/17