Netball stars of the Pacific aim for the 2025 World Netball Youth Cup

The Oceania Regional Qualifiers were held in Rarotonga in September, with the national youth teams of the Cook Islands, Papua New Guinea (PNG), Samoa and Tonga battling for the opportunity to be part of the 2025 World Netball Youth Cup (NWYC2025).

With three places from the Oceania region up for grabs, it was Samoa, Tonga and the Cook Islands that ultimately emerged victorious, claiming their spots in the NWYC2025 alongside pre-qualified Pacific nations Fiji and New Zealand.

“It’s a big opportunity to be playing in the Qualifiers,” said Samoan Captain Papi Alaalatoa, who helped steer her team to a flawless result of five wins from five games played. “It’s an opportunity to showcase our younger girls and their talent [...] and to have them not only represent Samoa, but to represent their families and themselves.”

Doing the groundwork

The Australian Government, through PacificAus Sports, partnered with Netball Australia to support a number of the teams to attend the Qualifiers, and to provide vital competition experience in the lead up to the event.

The 2024 Pacific Netball Series, held in Brisbane in June, saw national senior teams from Fiji, Samoa and Tonga play against Singapore, Namibia and an inaugural Australian First Nations side, gaining valuable international exposure and competition experience. The Tonga Tala won the championship for the fourth year in a row, a winning streak that has propelled them to 8th place in the world netball rankings.

“Our journey, both in grassroots netball and high-performance netball, started with PacificAus Sports and Netball Australia – and continues with the highs and lows we've shared along the way,” said Salote Sisifa, CEO of Tonga Netball. “Tonga's success is very much your success, too.”

Samoa’s Alaalatoa also participated in the 2024 Pacific Netball Series and says she has appreciated the opportunity to develop her skills in the competitions made possible by PacificAus Sports.

“[The Pacific Netball Series] prepared me well. It made me mentally ready for this year’s Qualifiers,” she said. “Competitions like that are always a highlight. Past competitions have shown many strengths and talents throughout the years, and it’s growing stronger and stronger.”

Following the Pacific Netball Series, young netballers from Fiji also had the opportunity to compete against Under-21 teams from Australia, New Zealand and Singapore in the Rising Stars: Fiji 21/U Tour in August, supported by PacificAus Sports, Netball Australia and Netball Fiji. Vivian Koster, CEO of Netball Fiji, was enthusiastic about the impact of the competition, and the professional development program for umpires that accompanied it.

“We have all learned something from it,” she said. “Whether it be the players themselves or the team environment, it’s been a huge success.”

The power of the diaspora

PacificAus Sports has also worked with netball organisations across the region to help coaches and administrators connect with skilful players in the Pacific diaspora, making it possible for them to try out for their national teams.

“The support has been well received, with gratitude,” said Sisifa from Tonga Netball. “It's given us a platform to compete regularly, it's allowed us to hold high-performance camps, it's helped us move our coaching staff around the Tongan diaspora to do trials and selections to make sure the team is made of Tonga’s best regardless of where one lives.”

Next stop: Gibraltar!

Players across all the nations involved in the Oceania Regional Qualifiers benefited from the week of hard-fought international competition.

This time next year, the qualifying teams from Oceania – Fiji, New Zealand, Samoa, Tonga and the Cook Islands – will join fifteen other national youth teams, including Australia, at the NWYC2025 in Gibraltar, in a competition that will showcase the outstanding abilities of the next generation of international netball players. The countdown begins!

To keep up to date with news on NWYC2025, visit the NWYC2025 website.