Samoa national under-21 netball team explained

The Samoa national under-21 netball team is the highest youth team of netball for Samoa and represents Samoa at the Netball World Youth Cup. It is controlled by the Samoa Netball Association.

History

In 2012 the team appointed Trish Wilcox as coach for the 2013 Youth World Championships.[1]

In September 2016 the team qualified for the 2017 Netball World Youth Cup in Gaborone, Botswana.[2] As preparation for the world cup the team also contested the Digicel Punjas International Youth Netball Series.[3] It announced its world cup team in May 2017[4] coming eleventh.

In 2020 the Covid-19 pandemic forced cancellation of the Oceania qualifying tournament for the 2021 world cup, and Samoa qualified on the basis of its world ranking.[5] Head coach Frances Solia began "virtual trials" to select players.[5] In October 2020 it announced a 22-player "long squad" of potential players, from which the final 12-player squad would be selected.[6] The delay in the competition saw a new squad selected in January 2021.[7] The competition was subsequently cancelled due to the pandemic.[8] [9]

Players

2021 Netball World Youth Cup long squad

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Sport: Netball Samoa appoint U21 coach . RNZ . 8 May 2012 . 23 July 2022.
  2. Web site: Sport: Samoa seal final qualifying berth for netball's World Youth Cup . RNZ . 30 September 2016 . 23 July 2022.
  3. Web site: United For A Cause . Fiji Sun . Justine Mannan . 9 January 2017 . 23 July 2022.
  4. Web site: Samoa U 21 side for Netball World Youth Cup 2017 named . Loop Samoa . 15 May 2017 . 21 July 2022.
  5. Web site: Virtual becomes reality for Samoa netball hopefuls . RNZ . 8 July 2021 . 23 July 2022.
  6. Web site: Samoa sets sights on Netball World Cup in Fiji . Samoa Observer . Vaelei Von Dincklage . 25 October 2020 . 23 July 2022.
  7. Web site: Netball Samoa selects U–21 Long Squad . Samoa Observer . 17 January 2021 . Vaelei Von Dincklage . 23 July 2022.
  8. Web site: International Netball Federation Announces Cancellation of Netball World Youth Cup 2021 due to Covid-19 . World Netball . 19 March 2021 . 23 July 2022.
  9. Web site: Netball Samoa saddened by Youth World Cup cancellation . Samoa Observer . Vaelei Von Dincklage . 23 March 2021 . 23 July 2022.