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Another short and sharp campaign for North Otago Netball’s senior team has come and gone.
They competed at the Hanan Shield tournament last weekend.
Mid Canterbury hosted the event in Ashburton where South Canterbury were eventually crowned champions.
Despite North Otago losing both their games, co-coaches Sonya Macdonald and Nicki Paterson saw plenty of positives on the court.
“Our girls played really well,” Macdonald told the Oamaru Mail.
“I don’t think the scores reflected the games at all because there was some fantastic netball played by all the sides.”
The North Otago Netball decision to make premier A club games 60 minutes “definitely helped” the team adjust to the step up, she said.
The squad was a blend of young and experienced players.
“Having a mix of the younger and older definitely has their advantages.
“You had the young talented energy and explosion plus the skill and experience and cunningness, I guess, of the older experienced players as well.”
Macdonald was impressed with all the players performances.
“They all really stepped up and showed what they could do and took the challenge on at that higher level.
“Tegan Souness at the defence end, she certainly showed her skills and ability to play up that level and at the other end we had Emily Hargreaves who took on a huge work load in the shooting circle.”
This is the lone tournament the team will attend this year as the Senior Whakataetae tournament — a South Island tournament for tier two representative sides — falls on the same day as the final for club netball in North Otago.