After a one year hiatus, Netball Northern Territory (NNT) welcomed twelve teams to the 2021 Indigenous Netball Carnival over the weekend.
The annual Indigenous Netball Carnival is one of the most important events in the NNT calendar, established to increase participation of the Indigenous community in sport and recreation and to promote a healthy lifestyle in a fun and competitive way.
"It was great to see the carnival return this year and to see that the conditions surrounding the pandemic didn't hinder our team nominations, which were still on par with previous years." NNT Marketing Specialist, Dustie Tare stated.
The twelve teams were spread across three divisions this year, Open, Mixed and 15's & Under with only two travelling teams attending this year.
"Rockers, who hail from Katherine, were new to the carnivals Open Division this year and are an example of the talent of netball players within the indigenous community in the Territory". Stated Tare.
The Open category proved to be highly competitive, with three teams sitting at the top of the table at the conclusion of the round robin matches and the grand final finishing with a nail-biting one point victory to Us Mob, the reigning 2019 Open winners.
Us Mob also took out the Mixed grade while the newly formed Banks Bulldogs Storm claimed the 15 & U title.
NNT hopes to see more teams attend next years carnival but dates are yet to be set for the 2022 Indigenous Netball Carnival as they await Netball Australia's finalised calendar.
2021 Indigenous Carnival Winners and Awards:
15 & U
Winner | Storm
Runners Up | Mash Deadly Sisters
Final Score | 28 - 6
RISING STAR AWARD | Molly Suradi (Mash Deadly Sisters)
MIXED
Winners | Us Mob
Runners Up | Gammon All Stars
Final Score | 26 - 11
M.V.P | Tabitha May (Gammon All Stars)
OPEN
Winners | Us Mob
Runners Up | Rockers
Final Score | 20 - 19
M.V.P | Johanna Gregory (Storm)
