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 compete 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,” Naivalu emphasized. Other schools such as Adi Maopa from Lau, as well as those from Koro, Gau, and Kadavu, have confirmed their participation.
RHS manager Lorraine Wesley announced that they will compete in the Under-17 division, fielding a team of 17 players. The effort to travel to Viti Levu was significant; the community collaborated to raise the $7,000 required to participate in the annual school netball event. “We organized two kava barrels at the Itumuta community hall to fundraise for our tournament expenses,” she explained.
Wesley hopes to arrange at least two friendly matches against Kalabu Secondary and Gospel High schools before the maritime rally on August 19 at the NNC in Suva. “Our principal has been in discussions with the two schools, but we haven’t received any confirmations yet as we just arrived,” she noted.
All of their Under-17 players are in Year 11. “We are entering as underdogs, as there is much for us to learn, and it will be a valuable experience for the girls,” Wesley added. “We have our expectations, but we will see how the girls perform in terms of confidence and exposure, given that this will be their first time playing in front of other schools.”
Wesley believes that the rally will serve as a great opportunity for the players to enhance their confidence and assess their competitive abilities. “We’ll take things step by step. You never know, perhaps one or two of them may go on to represent Fiji in netball in the future.”
She encourages RHS alumni to show up in large numbers to support the team.