SportGibraltar

Netball: Gibraltar U19s prepare for Euro Championships and latest reults from local leagues

The Gibraltar U19 squad have recently been preparing for the forthcoming European Netball Championships, organised by FENA to be held in England, in March.

The Federation of European Netball Associations governs netball in Europe.FENA member countries are currently England, Malta, N Ireland, Republic of Ireland, Scotland, Wales and Gibraltar. FENA organises Championships which are held annually at the following age groups: Open, U21/U19 and U17.As well as the There are seven affiliated members these are Malta, England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland and Gibraltar.

Between the annual meetings the Federation is governed by a Management Committee made up of the Officers, Chairman, Secretary, Treasurer, the Geographical Area Representatives to the IFNA and three elected members.

These are elected by the Members for a period of two years.

Members meet every year at the time of the Annual Tournament held during the first weekend in March.

Finance comes from an annual affiliation fee and a rules book levy covering the previous twelve months sales. In addition a variable grant is received from the IFNA which is given for development.
The Federation has established a Development Group which in turn has established a Task Force comprising experienced umpires and coaches ready to take courses etc. when requests for help are received.

FENA Umpiring Awards are in place after ten years of work involving negotiating and monitoring. An Umpiring Committee funded by the Members continues to review these awards annually.

There is a FENA League which is under review by a committee, again funded by the Members together with an understanding to work to improving the standard of coaching and play throughout the Federation.

Their best chance of being competitive in will be against the Maltese squad. The girls have however, been training hard and I was lucky enough to catch them at one of their training sessions at the Tercentenary Hall. The girls were passing the ball round well and were able to compete against one of the stronger women's teams.

Moira Gomez, one of the committee members was quick to point out that Gibraltar was not expected to bring back any trophies, from what is essentially an extremely tough tournament. The only team which the girls may have a

The experience of playing at such a high standard, will be invaluable for the local players. Moira also pointed out that "it is vital for our girls to start experiencing netball outside of Gibraltar, this would give them a better understanding of what netball really is all about, at the international stage"

We wish the girls the best of luck in the tournament.

Results

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