Power Players Selected for Bahrain “A” Netball Squad
29 January 2008 by Riffa Views
Filed under Community
The Bahrain Netball League announced their final selection of players for the Bahrain A Squad that will compete at the upcoming Riffa Views Inter-Gulf Netball Championships. Ten players were selected from a pool of 50 hopefuls. The team offers Bahrain a great opportunity of bringing home some silverware at the competition. The remaining 40 players have been divided into the B, C, D and Vets teams.
The selection committee, comprising Dionne Williams, Jo Reed, Kate Knapton and Charmaine Wijeyeratne, has over 30 years combined experience with coaching and developing netball in Bahrain. Squad Coordinator Mel Goosen said: “We had an incredible depth of players to choose from, which is fantastic news for the development of netball in Bahrain. Over 50 players competed for positions on our five squads. They all worked really hard to impress the selection committee which made choosing the final teams a very difficult task.”
Richard Browning, CEO of Riffa Views commented: “We are pleased with the selection of players for the Bahrain A Squad. Our sponsorship aims at encouraging local Bahraini and other players to step up their development with new coaching and hard work. We believe that through this pathway we can support the development of talented rising stars to reach their maximum potential and make us all proud of their achievements during the tournament. We wish all the best to the Bahrain A Squad.”
The Bahrain A squad is made up of young and talented players such as 17 year old Sara Al Otaibi who so impressed selectors that she was promoted from last year’s B squad. Other players bring depth of experience to the team. Captain Beth Nunn and Vice Captain Mel Goosen will be appearing in their 9th and 10th Inter-Gulf tournaments, respectively. Nunn said: “Our experience will certainly be an asset to us. We know to stick to our game strategy when playing against top teams like Dubai A. Our team is extremely versatile and we have strength throughout the court. We are training hard to achieve results and hope to go one-better than our 5th place result last year by making it to the semi-finals. Winning the tournament would be the icing on the cake.”
The Bahrain A Squad will undergo intensive training for the next five weeks culminating with 10 days of coaching by All England netball coaches, Gilly Salter and Liz Banyard who will fly out to Bahrain courtesy of supporting sponsor, Gulf Air.
The Riffa Views Inter-Gulf Netball Championships will take place at the Bahrain Rugby Club on March 7th & 8th.
For more information, please contact Bahrain Netball League Event Manager, Michaela Milne on 3660 0308 or email kylamilne@mac.com.
