With just one month remaining of this year’s PacificAus Sports Athlete Immersion program, the benefits in offering some of Pacific Island’s most talented netballers a training and playing platform in Queensland are evident.
Made possible by the Australian Government (DFAT) and Netball Australia, in its second year the PacificAus program is supporting five Pacific Island athletes including Papua New Guinean netballer Shannaz Apelis.
Apelis, a Brisbane South Wildcats training partner, said she felt welcomed from the very beginning.
“My highlights so far with the Wildcats would definitely be training with the girls and getting to know the club,” Apelis said.
“Being part of the PacificAus Sports Program these last 10 weeks has taught me the different behaviours expected of an elite athlete both on and off the court, as well as taking care of yourself and your responsibility in terms of nutrition and recovery,”
Apelis lives with fellow immersion athletes and Wildcats training partners Goloa Ovoa (PNG) and Renee Vaioleti (Tonga/NZ).
“I enjoy cooking for our netball family and we often have a movie night or two each week. It's been so great getting to know each other and growing our home away from home,” Apelis said.
“It's a great opportunity for our Pacific Island athletes. You learn a lot from well-experienced coaches and develop both as an athlete and an individual. We are very grateful to PacificAus Sports, Brisbane South Wildcats, Netball Queensland, Netball Australia and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade for making this possible.”
Apelis and Ovoa will next month join their Pepe’s teammates ahead of the Oceania World Cup qualifiers in Suva, Fiji on July 18-23.
Wildcats head coach Megan Lynch was quick to acknowledge the cross-cultural awareness and integration opportunities the immersion program had presented.
“This program allows our Pacific Island friends to experience high performance netball in Australia, where they can hopefully learn new things and take them home to their families and teammates,” Lynch said.
“All of our PacificAus athletes are also giving our Wildcats players the amazing opportunity to train and play alongside smart, creative netballers, teaching them different ways to approach and analyse the game.”
Fiji Pearls pair Ema Mualuvu and Unaisi Rauluni have experienced a full pre-season in Townsville after signing with the Northern Mendi Rays ahead of the 2022 HART Sapphire Series.
Both have been instrumental in the Rays’ three victories so far this season.
“It’s great to see the years of planning and hard work from a lot of key stakeholders, a number of whom may no longer be involved in the program currently, pay off,” Netball Queensland High Performance Pathways & Projects Officer Emma Wakefield said.
“Additionally, everyone currently engaged in the program takes great pride and responsibility in delivering a high-quality experience for all athletes and coaches involved. It’s been a privilege to witness the growth of our athletes and how they value this experience. This year, we have five athletes currently involved in the program between two clubs, two of which have been able to be part of a full pre-season, which is a significant jump in athlete reach, administrative effort, and high-performance exposure and delivery outcomes for the program.”
Wakefield highlighted the collaboration between Netball Queensland, Netball Australia, Pacific Partner countries and clubs within the HART Sapphire Series to align and immerse athletes to ensure they have had great success.
“This collaboration will see the program expand to provide further immersion opportunities in the second half of 2022, particularly with the delivery of a coach development program,” Wakefield said.
“We will be working closely with a number of personnel to deliver a short-term immersion experience this September which will see both athletes and coaches from Fiji, PNG, Samoa and Tonga travel to Brisbane for a high-performance camp and competition. We’re really fortunate to have Jenny Brazel leading the delivery of this program, which recently commenced through on-line coach connections, and it’s exciting to think of the special impact it will have on everyone involved.”