Premier netball gets underway in Christchurch on Tuesday.  

It has been an historic build up to Season 2020 and one that Clubs, players and administrators are unlikely to forget. 

'Clubs have been patient and understanding under such trying circumstances', said Christchurch Netball Centre Manager Megan McLay. 'While we have been unable to provide the usual length of competition for our teams, we have managed to plan for a season start much earlier than we first thought', she said.

In season 2020, Premier 1 and Premier 2 competition games will be combined for two rounds. There will be no promotion/relegation games this season and seedings from 2019 will remain in place for next year regardless of this year's results.

There is still plenty to play for as titles will be awarded for Premier 1 and Premier 2 champions. 2019 Christchurch Netball Centre competition winners Technical Netball Club go into this season looking to back up their title win last year and in 2018. They are likely to again face competition for this year’s title from last year’s runners up Kereru and Lincoln University. Saints Netball Club were the big improvers last year and with the recruitment of Jess Prosser, Lily Marshall and Jess Allan will be top contenders in 2020.

Technical will open their campaign against Kereru B. Runners up Kereru will play St Margarets.

Technical B were Premier 2 competition winners in 2019 and will relish the opportunity to play against the top Premier teams. They play Kia Toa in their first match for the season.

Men's competition gets underway on the first Wednesday in July and this too is an historic occasion for the Centre and the men's game in Christchurch. The new affiliation represents the culmination of four years of vision and planning and is exciting for players, their Clubs and netball in general, bringing a new dimension of netball to the Centre. Teams have entered from Kereru, Technical, Kia Toa, Revelation and Halswell Netball Clubs.

Saturday will see netball back at the Hagley Netball courts with competition commencing for Senior grade teams. Saturday competition returns for age grade teams and the new age grade mixed competitions on Saturday 18 July. Juniors commence from Thursday, 23 July.

Premier 1 seedings: Technical A, Kereru A, Lincoln University A, Saints A, UC A, Kia Toa A.

Premier 2 seedings: Technical B, CGHS A, St Nicholas A, Villa Maria A, St Margarets A, Kereru B.

Premier 1 team announcements:

Technical: Olivia Burnham, Sophie Carr Paterson, Sinead Henderson, Samantha Holden, Janayah Lewis, Lina Pale, Tiana Placid, Kiah Ralph, Kiarna Sorensen, Louise Thayer, Chloe Williamson.

Kereru: Samantha Adams, Tasha Chinnery, Mikayla Cotton, Manaia Feather, M. Hosking-Marino, Kereana Iosefo-Harris, Kate McLaughlin, Claudia Pyke, Madi Smith, Courtney Wylie, Kali Zygmant.

Lincoln University: Megan Borst, Laura Dorgan, Charlotte Elley, Lily Fletcher, Mikayla Gillespie, Hannah Glen, Kate Grant, Georgina Kelly, Natasha Ryan, Molly Hurst, Kate Lloyd.

Saints: Jess Allan, Jenna Barrett, Chelsea Corbett, Gemma Etheredge, Anna Kennedy, Laura Mann, Lily Marshall, Dana Mulcahy, Jess Prosser, Lucy Sanders, Heidi Schout, Makaila Sutcliffe.

UC: Tiuana-Marie Aiono, Rachel Albiston, Grace Fissenden, Samsara Guillemot-Mene, Liyah Ieti, Miriam Lindsay, Malia Manoa, Georgie Moore, Olivia Morgan, Abby Payne, Gabby Sullivan.

Kia Toa: Radha Petero, Olivia McIntyre, Natalie Allen, Brooklyn Tharp, Bianca Davidson, Sonja Vreugdenhill, Sarah Patrick, Rosie Stewart, Crystal Wilkinson, Kristy Jones, Soala Sa, Shana Ali.

Men's team announcements:

Kereru: Matt Akhtar, Noel Clarke, Mathew Fisher, Jay Geldard, Dallas Harema, Adrian Rennie, Wilson Rota, Benjamin Smith, Detroit Sterling, Junior Tana, David Pala’amo.

Halswell: Adam McMaster, Daniel Bromley, Gregory Scanlan, Kolio Vailu’u, Mark Aldrin, Mark Alexander, Mason Ngatai, Matt McDonald, Sati Ravichandiren, Tamati Matehe, Willie Roberts.

Kia Toa: Jaryn Tainui, Emmanuel Woodley, Justin Harvey, Peter Cosseboom, Jordan Davidson, Terangiparutini Tipa, Jared Quirke, Cameron Gledhill, Jono Hamilton, Nick Grimmer, Fletcher Homan, Tom Webber.

Technical: Darren Burnett, Riki Clark, M Te Rangimarie Clark, Harry Clay, Phil Ellmers, Andrew Hale, Jay Irvine, Kaydan Morrison, Mitchell Roberts, Matthew Sampson, Naze Silbery, Jade Wolmarans.

Revelation: Victor Godsmark-White, Greg Lord, Setu Te Hae, Wairepo Te Hae, Paul Cameron, Davey Edmonds, Will Kirk, Adam Hillis, Waaka Anthony Parkinson, Matthew Beveridge Craig Renai.

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Article added: Wednesday 17 June 2020