Rotuma High School is set to make its comeback at the 2024 Crest Chicken Fiji Secondary School Netball Championship after a decade-long absence. Fiji Secondary School Netball president Navitalai Naivalu stated that RHS must first participate in the maritime rally to secure a place in the nationals scheduled for August 21-23 at the National Netball Centre in Suva. “There are no automatic qualifiers,” he noted, highlighting that schools from regions such as Lau, Koro, Gau, and Kadavu have already confirmed their participation.
RHS manager Lorraine Wesley announced that the school will compete in the Under-17 division, fielding a squad of 17 players. The journey to Viti Levu posed challenges; the community had to come together to raise $7,000 necessary for the annual schools netball event. “We organized two kava barrels at the Itumuta community hall to fundraise for our tournament expenses,” she shared.
Wesley expressed her hope for the team to engage in at least two friendly matches against Kalabu Secondary and Gospel High schools prior to the Maritime rally on August 19 in Suva. “Our principal has been in touch with the two schools, but we haven’t finalized any plans yet as we just arrived the day before,” she said. All of their U17 players are currently in Year 11.
“We will be entering the competition as underdogs, but this will be a valuable learning experience for the girls,” Wesley remarked. “We have our goals, but we want to see how the girls perform in terms of confidence and exposure, especially as it will be their first time playing against other schools.”
She believes the rally will serve as an excellent platform for the players to boost their confidence and assess their competitiveness. “We’ll take it one step at a time, and who knows, one or two of them might represent Fiji in netball in the future.”
Wesley is also encouraging RHS alumni to come out in large numbers to support the team.