THE Fiji Invitational Tournament has delivered four days of exciting netball action at the Vodafone Arena, drawing in a good number of crowds every day, funded by the Fiji National Sports Commission.
Across the opening days, fans witnessed fast-paced contests between Crest Fiji Black, Crest Fiji Blue, NSW Fiji Davui and the Auckland Fiji Davui, highlighting the growth of netball and the value of hosting quality international competition on home soil.
The tournament also celebrates the return of well-known former national netball representatives, including Vilimaina Davu, who was part of the team that helped Fiji reach sixth place at the 1999 World Netball Championship in Christchurch before later representing the Silver Ferns from 2001 to 2006.
Netball Fiji also welcomes the return of former Fiji Pearls captain Matila Waqanidrola and Tuipulotu McLennan, a netball gold medalist at the 1995 South Pacific Games in Tahiti.
Another major milestone has been the growing support from partners.
The Fiji National Sports Commission’s backing has helped make the tournament possible, while Netball Fiji’s new broadcast media partnership with FBC has ensured matches reach audiences across the country and around the world.
With the tournament proving a success, Netball Fiji TOC Chairperson Vasiti Vugakoto has confirmed the Fiji Invitational is here to stay.
“The response to this year’s Fiji Invitational has been overwhelming, and we are excited to announce that it will now become an annual event on our netball calendar.” Vugakoto said.
She said the tournament had already attracted significant international attention.
“This year we’ve welcomed teams from Australia and New Zealand, but we’ve also received expressions of interest from teams and players as far as the United Kingdom and United States.
That tells us there is genuine interest in what Netball Fiji is building, and we’re committed to providing a quality competition that continues to attract international participation while creating opportunities for our local players.”
Vugakoto also mentioned that this tournament attracted former national netball players.
“It is great to see many of our former national players return home with overseas-based teams to bring the competition back to Fiji and help expose our local players to a higher level of competition.
The overseas-based players bring different styles of play in both attack and defence.
It is an overwhelming experience to see our former reps supporting Netball Fiji’s new vision and pathway to the international level,” she said.
As the competition comes to an end, the selectors now face the difficult task of narrowing the squad ahead of the Oceania World Cup Qualifiers at Tonga in September.
