THE La Lucia Netball Club recently returned from the USA where they competed in the International Youth Netball Tournament. Incredibly the team which was only formed earlier this year finished the outdoor tournament unbeaten, winning nine games and drawing two.
The girls took on teams from Australia, USA, Canada and Bermuda at the ESPN Sports Facility in Orlando, Florida. This was the first time a South African team travelled to the tournament.
Coach of the team, Marchelle Maroun, said she was exceptionally proud of her charges.
“I’m very proud of the girls. They coped with the jetlag, they played some exceptional netball against tough opposition. But what pleased me most was their conduct of court. One of the English teams at the tournament had written down on a chalkboard all the negative aspects of their gameplay, with phrases like ‘we suck’.
“Our girls went over to the team and erased the messages and replaced them with messages like ‘hang in there’ and ‘you are awesome’. That was a wonderful moment and it epitomised the spirit within our team,” she said.
Captain of the team Navani Moodley said they had a simple approach to each game.
“Our biggest rivals in South Africa are Western Province. Their tempo is matched by their intensity on the court, so we decided to play our international opposition like we would against Province,” Moodley laughed.
“The team though, were superb. They were composed under pressure and we would love to go back next year and apply what we learnt at this tournament,” Moodley said.
