The 75th edition of the Hanan Shield has been taken out by South Canterbury.

Played annually since 1950, the Hanan Shield is contested between netball centres from Mid Canterbury, South Canterbury and North Otago, with the three centres alternating hosting.

This season it was North Otago’s turn to host, at the Waimate Event Centre on Sunday, with the hosts first on court against the defending champions South Canterbury, who started their defence strong with a 74-38 win.

That meant if South Canterbury took out the second game of the day, against Mid Canterbury, they’d keep the shield for a third year running.

It was a close match, with the scores all tied up at quarter time, and South Canterbury holding a narrow two-goal lead at half time.

But, the third quarter – as it so often does – ended up being the telling point. South Canterbury started to assert some dominance and by the end of the quarter they were up by eight and Mid Canterbury had a mountain to climb to get back into it.

It was too big an ask, and by full time South Canterbury had secured the win 52-40, and in doing so locked away the Hanan Shield for the third year in a row.

That meant that the final game of the day between Mid Canterbury and North Otago had no bearing on the overall result, but Mid Canterbury finished the day on a high, taking the win 65-20.

While South Canterbury have dominated the tournament the past three years, Mid Canterbury have had their fair share of luck in recent years. Mid Canterbury got their name on the historic shield in 2022, 2020 and 2019, with North Otago’s last win coming in 2018.

The Christine Hanan Shield was presented to the then South Canterbury Women’s Basketball Association by Mrs AES Hanan, mayoress of Timaru. It was contested for the first time in 1950, with South Canterbury claiming the first six titles before Ashburton and Temuka shared the title in 1956. North Otago’s first win came in 1960, when they shared the title with South Canterbury.

Next year, it’ll be the turn of Ashburton to host the tournament, but before then Mid Canterbury will have a chance at revenge for this year's result when they host the annual Senior Whakataetae in early September. That will be played at the EA Networks Centre in Ashburton on September 6-7.

Article provided by Mid-Canterbury Netball Centre
Article added: Wednesday 06 August 2025