Irene van Dyk in Tonga for netball tournament [1]
Wednesday, October 23, 2019 - 18:28. Updated on Wednesday, October 23, 2019 - 18:29.
By Eleanor Gee
International netball star, Irene van Dyk, is in Tonga for the Netgo Program Finals Tournament where students from 13 Government Primary Schools will compete over three days, 23-25 October at ‘Atele Indoor Stadium.
At the opening today, the former South African Netball Captain and New Zealand Silver Fern representative told students to enjoy the three days of netball.
“I can’t wait to watch you show your skills and your flair and enjoyment of the game.”
Irene is the most capped international netball player of all time with 217 caps, representing South Africa 72 times and New Zealand 145 times.
She is recognized as the best goal shooter in the world, consistently achieving over 90% in every game.
Irene encouraged students to continue to be active in netball or any sport, especially if they wanted to represent Tonga in the future. She said although she started playing netball in South Africa at the age of nine, she didn’t play representative netball until much later.
“Every year I went and I played reps and I never got into the team until I turned 18,” she said. “So, if someone tells you that you’re not quite good enough just yet, just keep at it.”
“Every child develops at their own pace.”
The primary schools taking part in the tournament include Fanga o Pilolevu, Fasi moe Afi, Ngeleia, Nuku’alofa, Kolomotu’a, Ma’ufanga, Kanokupolu, Hoi, Ha’alalo, Longoteme, Tokomololo, Folaha, and Tu’aliku.
Students in classes one and two started the tournament playing fun games with the help of volunteers, followed by netball games for students in class three and above.
Staff and officials from Tonga Netball are managing the tournament along with help from Nettyheads, a group of netballers from Newcastle, Australia, who have been in Tonga holding netball clinics at GPS schools.
The tournament is made possible through the partnership between Netball New Zealand, Government of New Zealand, Government of Australia, and the Government of Tonga through the Ministry of Education and Training, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.