Held in Sydney at Fairfield City District Association on 5-6 October, the Oceania Cup is open to netballers of all abilities. Its aim is for teams to have fun while wearing tropical skirts and leis, and  listening to music creating a relaxed and ‘chilled’ Polynesian carnival atmosphere.

The Shoalhaven Sapphires were one of 16 teams competing in the Under 15s division. The team comprised of nine North Nowra Bomaderry Netball Club members: Olivia De Strang, Elyssa Franey, Victoria Guest, Megan Hamaty, Eloise Hindman, Lisa Horner, Georgia Pollard, Georgia Wright and Elisha Wright-Smith.

“I am so proud of the girls,” said coach Helen McGuire. “They played some excellent games against some very good teams with so much passion and the ‘never give up attitude’ including teams from the South-Western Sydney Academy.

“Their team spirit certainly shone. They were competing against teams that I honestly thought they could not win against and came home with the points. This is the fourth year I have been involved with registering teams into this Cup and this has been our most successful year,” said Helen.

The team was also treated to a Netfit training session with Giants Netball and former NSW Swifts player, Taylah Davies along with gift bags from Netball NSW.

Special thanks go to Alison Hinkley who volunteered to umpire over the two-day carnival along with Helen Wright who was the Team Manager, and parents and friends who came along.