Fijians Beat South Africa

The Fiji netball Under-19 squad defeated South African Schools 36-24 in the Digicel/Punjas International Netball Schools Challenge at the Vodafone Arena last night.

Coach Filo Korovulavula said the team has improved dramatically from their first performance on Tuesday.

“We take one game at a time, we know South Africa is a good team and they came out really strong against us,” Korovulavula said. “We have been looking at our weaknesses on the first day and we went back and improved on it and come back stronger.

“The girls really did well, they were energetic on court and read the game well and put South Africa under pressure.

“The biggest thing for the girls is their mental toughness, usually when they see girls bigger than them they get a bit scared and they are already defeated mentally.

“It is important for them to realise that size does not mean you will lose a game when you have not even tried.

“I have been telling them that size does not matter, when they go out there on the court they need to focus on themselves and their game and that is what they have been doing.

“There has been a big change in the girls attitude and the way they play, they seem more confident now and click well on the court and I think as they keep playing, they will improve more.” Korovulavula has urged supporters to turn up in numbers to support the development of netball. “This is Fiji Netball development at its best and we want families, friends and netball fans to come out in numbers and support our girls,” she said.

“These girls are the future of netball and every support is needed to help boost them so I hope as the days go on, the fans will come in numbers.”

Day Two results

Budgies 29-21 FSS, Fiji 31-37 Australia, Aotearoa Maori 57-16 Budgies, SASN 15-43 Aotearoa Maori, Fijiana FANZ 31-32 Auckland Samoa, FSS 21-31 Auckland Tonga. Justine Mannan

The biggest thing for the girls is their mental toughness, usually when they see girls bigger than them they get a bit scared and they are already defeated mentally. It is important for them to realise that size does not mean you will lose a game when you have not even tried. Filo Korovulavula, Netball coach