METS

It has been a great month in the Pathways space, with the final METS (Mainland Emerging Talent Squad) match against SETS (South Emerging Talent Squad) being held in Christchurch on August 16th. It was a great tussle, with Mainland taking the win in the 4th quarter 34-29. We have loved the games against our friends from the South and are looking forward to further opportunities for our METS group in 2027.

NNL Prizegiving

We had the opportunity to honour all our wonderful ‘NNL Village’ – all the amazing people who helped us on our way to NNL glory. To our partners, umpires, venue coordinators, game day event managers, fundraising specialists, social media gurus, whānau and most importantly our amazing players and management team – THANK YOU. We loved being able to pass on our heartfelt gratitude for all you’ve done.

Celebrating the Future of Mainland Netball

We are thrilled to have completed our Talent Identification process for Year 11 and 12 athletes, culminating in the selection of 52 promising players to attend the Mainland Netball Development Camp (MDC) on Saturday 19th September in Christchurch at the Christchurch Netball Sports Centre. The day is a fantastic opportunity for our players to receive coaching from the best coaches, learn about the next steps, meet other successful players, and play against the best in the Zone!

Lead coaches are:

• Julie Seymour – NZ U21 coach
• Kate Carpenter – International coach
• Geni Ah Tong – NNL championship winning coach 2025 + 2026
• Anna Kennedy – NNL championship winning assistant coach 2025 + 2026

They will be competing for selection into the prestigious Netball New Zealand National Development Camp (NDC), likely to be held in January (Ashburton) – 14th – 16th January. From this group, 15 athletes and 5 reserves will earn the opportunity to continue their journey along the national performance pathway.

Talent identification occurs across our region throughout the season. We are fortunate to have a very experienced and committed panel who attend key events including Representative Tournaments, the South Island Secondary Schools Championships (SISS), Club and school games.

This year we have also selected a talented group of Year 13s who will be invited to attend a specialist workshop with Marianne Delaney- Hoshek and then have a game against our METS team. This is designed to advance their skills and show them the next step in their pathway – should they choose to remain in Mainland. This opportunity to attend the Mainland Year 13 Netball Development Camp is on Sunday 20th September in Christchurch at the Christchurch Netball Sports Centre.

View the selected players here

*The above group of players will receive an email and will be required to accept their place by Friday, 11th September.

Article added: Monday 07 September 2026