A local 'Te Tau Lava' tournament started the netball season this year on Saturday March 9 at the 'Atele Indoor Stadium.

The community based event that encourages a healthy lifestyle through frequent physical activity, while promoting the game, is the first of three tournaments this year.

A second round will be held on Saturday March 16, with finals on Saturday March 23, 2013. Forty-six teams from across Tongatapu have registered for the tournament's four categories of U-18, Senior, Golden Oldies and Mixed team.

Talita Tu'ipulotu the National Operations Manager for the Tonga Netball Association (TNA) said they will hold three tournaments annually. 

A second tournament is the 'Kau Mai Tonga' will be held in June and July and the Mo'onia Cup at the end of the year. TNA also hope to identify local talent to form a national squad to represent Tonga in the 2019 Pacific Games that will be hosted in the Kingdom, she said.

Obese

Talita said with the increasing number of Tongans, especially women, suffering from NCDs like diabetes, blood pressure and heart disease due to lack of physical activity, they hoped these netball events would encourage everyone to join a team and be part of the initiative.

The World Health Organization reported Tonga among the top five countries in the world in terms of obesity, with 84% of Tongan men and 93% of Tongan women being classified as overweight.

She said the Ministry of Health identified that the economic and social costs of non-communicable diseases in Tonga are enormous, with the annual health care costs of treating diabetes, heart disease and other coronary arterial diseases, cancers, and chronic obstructive lung diseases estimated to consume more than 70% of the health budget.

A community mobilization program will he held in various districts to facilitate more netball activities through the health centers and identify key netball coordinators to engage with community members.

The Kau Mai Tonga Campaign and Te Tau Lava club tournament was first held in Tonga last year had raised the profile of the game.