The Baby Pearls under-21 netball team recently wrapped up its participation in the World Youth Cup Oceania Qualifier held in Rarotonga, Cook Islands.
The Qualifiers, served as the deciding factor for countries looking to compete in the Netball World Youth Cup 2025, to be hosted by Gibraltar Netball.
After a week of intense competition, Samoa emerged as the champions of the qualifiers, with Tonga securing the second spot and Cook Islands settling for third place.
These three teams have successfully secured their places in the upcoming Netball World Youth Cup.
Despite Fiji’s participation in the qualifier, the Baby Pearls had already qualified for the NWYC by finishing fourth in the previous Youth World Cup.
Throughout the Oceania Qualifier, the Baby Pearls played a total of four matches.
They suffered defeats in their initial two games against Tifa Moana Samoa U21 and Tonga Tala U21. However, they bounced back and clinched their first victory in the campaign against PNG Pepes U21.
In their final match, they faced a defeat against the host team, Cook Islands.
Reflecting on the team’s performance, Netball Fiji CEO Vivian Koster expressed satisfaction with the exposure and game time gained during the qualifiers.
She mentioned that this being the team’s first overseas outing, the experience of playing against top regional teams has been invaluable in their preparation for the upcoming World Youth Cup.
“This is something that they need, to play as much game time together against top teams from the region,” said Koster.
“This campaign has provided much needed experience, going up against top players from the region, the team has learned a lot, and this has added to their preparation for the upcoming World Youth Cup.”
