Fiji Netball under-21 head coach Simone Nalatu is happy with the enthusiasm and work ethic displayed by members of her extended squad during their first training session in Nasinu yesterday.
The former national rep said the training and screening session was all about getting to know the players.
“This is my first training session with the team, to get to know the players and see what I’m working with,” she said. The squad is preparing for the Netball World Youth Cup which will be held next year.
“Today’s training session went very well, there has been a lot of enthusiasm and high work ethic displayed by the girls so I’m happy with our session today,” the former Fiji Pearls rep said.
“Today was mostly about our defence, I just wanted to get a glimpse of the girls and their defence so I can gauge where they are at the moment.”
The squad had two sessions yesterday, with one being from the morning to midday, and the second later in the afternoon.
“So we will be having training sessions every weekend where we will slowly be doing our selections and cutting out players.
“After this weekend, lots of work will then go into ensuring our program is tailored to where we want to be and importantly how we are going to get there. We are looking at some of the tournaments that we are preparing for later in the year to ensure everything we do between now and then is purposeful and done with good intent, this includes our strengths and conditioning, skills work and high performance behaviours,” added Nalatu.
Nalatu will be looking to host an international match for the under-21 side in August to help with the preparations for the World Cup. She said the final squad should be selected before the Oceania Qualifiers in September.
