Golden Oldies World Netball Festival 2015 Newspaper Two

IN THE HOOP

EDITION 2

GOLDEN OLDIES DAY A WINNER

What a day at Hobart’s Tattersall Park.

The race that stops a nation was the centerpiece for a magnificent day at the track.

The Golden Oldies Netball Festival delivered the glamour and a full race card of enjoyment.

Once again Golden Oldies Netballers, their partners and supporters were the star attraction with their enthusiasm and magnificent outfits.

From the brilliantly humourous to straight out glamourous there was obviously a lot of thought and effort put into

being part of the spirit of the day.

The rank outsider Prince of Penzance stormed home in the cup to the delight of several Golden Oldies participants.

The local organising committee and the VSL team could not have wished for a better day. The weather behaved itself and allowed everyone to move outside to take in the atmosphere.

I’m sure I noticed a few envious looks from the upstairs lounge as people took in the fun below.

AVSEC - G.O. NEWBIES Auckland team, AVSEC are brand new to Golden Oldies and for their star player Sunny, it is even her first time on a netball court!

The girls can often be seen fighting crime and stopping drug smugglers at Auckland International Airport. Team Manager (and token Scot) Mae , twisted her colleagues arms after having attended Golden Oldies Netball and Hockey Festivals in the past. “‘It’s been great fun,” commented Mae who admitted that the team had not even practiced together before arriving in Hobart. “I always enjoy Golden Oldies Festivals, and I’m sure we will be back for 2018” said Mae. Despite an injury or two, the team are in great spirits, even helping one of their team members with an assignment she has due tomorrow (Beverage in hand of course!)

The team have been making great use of their downtime, so if you are looking for any fantastic hot pools or brewery tours - just look out for the AVSEC girls in black and white!

THE BARRANETS

The 17 strong contingent that make up the Barranets have an interesting story.

All of them have at some stage lived in Kununurra a town of 8,000 people in the very far north of Western Australia.

One of them now lives in NSW and the rest still reside in W.A. This doesn’t mean team meetings or practices are easy as half of them live 3,500 kms from each other. If that doesn’t seem much, consider this - it’s only 2,500kms from London to Moscow or 3,200kms from Auckland to Adelaide.

Six of the team still live in Kununurra a mining and agricultural town just 37kms from the Northern Territory border.

There are 3 grades and 24 netball teams in Kununurra.

Competition games are played on a Thursday night to avoid the heat.

When they left last Friday it was 40c, so the fresh Hobart weather was a shock to the system on Monday.

The journey to Hobart was through Darwin and Sydney. A total of 18 hours. That’s what we call commitment and they are already planning for Christchurch in 2018.

Unlike Golden Oldies participants only one of these runners was a winner!

Take home all the Photos and Festival videos!

Come and see us at the finale dinner where you can buy your USB Stick with every single photo taken and the videos from this fantastic festival