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South Canterbury’s senior women representative netball team is aiming to kick off the season with silverware this weekend.
In the first of three major tournaments in quick succession, the side will be looking to retain the Hanan Shield for the fourth year in a row when they take on Mid Canterbury and North Otago in Ashburton on Sunday.
The squad will then return to Ashburton for the Senior Whakataetae Netball Tournament on September 5-6.
Head coach Julie Langford said it would be important to set the tone of the season by picking up some early silverware.
“We need to get our hands on that [Whakataetae] trophy again. We last won it in 2024 and we have just narrowly been the runner up in the last two years.
“We want to improve on that this year.”
The side will then get a week’s rest before travelling to Napier for the Netball New Zealand Open tournament held from September 10-13.
Langford said the squad’s biggest and most challenging goal for the season would be improving on their finish at last year’s open tournament.
“At this tournament we play against Silver Ferns and ANZ players, so for a little region like South Canterbury, it’s pretty big.
“Last year we had a goal of finishing middle tier and we were successful with that, so we are hoping to get a little higher up in the ladder this year.
“Exposing these players to play at that level and giving them the opportunity is just absolutely amazing. It’s something that we’ve worked really hard for over the last couple of years.”
The squad had received a lot of community sponsorship this year to aid with funding their travel to the North Island for the tournament, she said.
“A lot of our players are mums, they all work and it is a huge commitment to be able to take a week of leave and go off to represent South Canterbury.
“We don’t get much recognition compared with our rugby counterparts, so it’s really great to have the community in behind us and we’re really thankful to all our sponsors. It’s because of them we get the opportunity to do this.”
It was her fifth season coaching the team, Langford said.
“I really enjoy this extra level. I love the tactical and technical side of things but I think netball is just as much about the people as well, the friendships.
“It’s important for me that the players in this area have these opportunities. Apart from last year, a South Canterbury team hadn’t been to nationals in nearly 30 years.
“That’s where I wanted to close the gap and now it’s to show that we’re there to be competitive and then to hopefully build on that each year.”
Squad captain Merekite Wahitapu said the players relished the opportunity to play at such a high level.
“The atmosphere and experience that the girls get to see, feel and play in at nationals is just incredible.
“Being able to go to this tournament for people who still love playing at that high level of netball but never made it, or never wanted to pursue ANZ or anything like that, is really special.
“And to have someone like Julie advocating for us to go to this is amazing because I hadn’t been to a national tournament in about 12 years besides last year.”
The squad was in a good place and growing in confidence with each training session, she said.
“We have an amazing group of women here who put in the hours on and off the court. The team morale we have is building every week.
“That’s so important when you’re playing, if you don’t have that on or off the court, it’s really hard to play well as a team.
“We’ve actually got one player from each [South Canterbury] premier grade club as well, which is awesome.”
The first two tournaments would be a good indicator on where the squad was at and what they could do to improve, she said.
“It’ll just be about running our combinations, cementing those and then just building and building because we’re going to be coming up against it at nationals.”
South Canterbury’s first Hanan Shield game will be against Mid Canterbury A at the EA Networks Centre at 9.30am.