Our volunteers coach the local children’s teams to glory!
For the past two weeks the team having been busy coaching rugby and netball at Moturiki District School. This has been part of a training camp for a selected number of school pupils from Moturiki U10 U12 and U14, who were to represent Moturiki at the regional finals in Levuka.
Working side by side with teachers from both schools, our team put the kids through a pretty grueling ten days of drills, hill runs and practice matches in preparation for the big day. The winners of this competition would then go on to represent the Lomiviti Province at the national finals in Nadi. So with everyone in high spirits and with high expectations everyone headed for Levuka on Friday morning ready to shout for Moturiki.
First up were the U10 boys in the rugby who started off brightly with a comfortable win, closely followed by two toughly contested games which saw Moturiki come out on top again and securing a place in the semi finals. Unfortunately this was to be their last game of the day as the just couldn’t find the space for that elusive try.
Next was the turn of our U10 girls who steamrolled the opposition in all three of their qualifying games, setting up a clash with Levuka Primary School, Moturiki’s main opponents for a number of years. Like the boys the opponents proved just to strong and having played their hearts out all day the girls lost by 2pts.
Then came the U12 boys who unfortunately won only one of their group games and so ultimately missed out on a place in the semi’s although with some strong performances they will surely be back bigger and better than ever next year.
The U12 girls followed in the footsteps of the U10’s and won convincingly in all three of their group games to set up another clash with LPS. With the crowd gathering and most of the noise coming from the TP team and chants of ‘lets go moturiki’ the netball court turned in an arena lined on all four sides with spectators. With some impressive passing and a goal shooter who seemed to be unable to miss, Moturiki were comfortable winners and moved on to the final. This was to be a much closer game with both teams exchanging points in the first three quarters. But with the help of the crowd our girls found that little something extra and claimed the last three nets to win and book themselves a place in Nadi in August.
The U14 boys found themselves up against opposition who’s size and ability was pretty much on a par with their own and so drew two of their opening three games. This was enough to book themselves a place in the semi finals much to the joy of the large crowd who had followed them from Moturiki including the TP team. With everyone in a huddle and some inspirational words from the coaches the game started well. Unfortunately the opposition proved to be too strong and our boys just couldn’t seem to find their rhythm, ultimately losing their final game of the day. Like the U12’s these boys will be back next year and surely be a force to be reckoned with.
The final game of the day was the U14 netball final in which Moturiki was again represented. Having comfortably beat their opponents in the three group games AND the semi final, the crowd, even supporters from other schools, seemed to get behind our girls and so unfolded one of the best games of netball Levuka has seen in some time. With each quarter drawing to a close with just a point or two separating the teams, the stage was set for a massive final quarter between Moturiki and LPS. The crowd truly seemed to make an extra player for the Moturiki girls and so with some excellent defending, passing and shooting another place was booked in Nadi for our girls.
This is a huge achievement for everyone involved and a great chance for the girls to truly test their ability against the best players in Fiji. Unsuprisingly everyone left Levuka on great form and chanting ‘We’re all going to Nadi’ Lets hope our girls can go one step further and become national champions!
