“A bunch of amazing mums” who don’t train but hit the netball courts every week for fun are proving more than competitive in the Netball Wairarapa Holmes Construction Premier One Championship.
The Opaki Vixens were formed three or four years ago by several ex-premier players who still loved competitive netball but didn’t want to play at the top level.
Their pedigree cannot be denied, with quality players such as Julie Malcolm, Katie Wyeth, Evie Langlands, and Lisa Manihera in their ranks.
Their form in the grading rounds led to their inclusion in the eight-team premier one competition,
With two wins from four games, the Vixens are sitting fourth and play fifth-placed Jo Kelly and Co Carterton Maroon in today’s 11am game.
Although the Vixens have no ambitions of making the top four for the championship proper, Manihera said their aim is still to be competitive.
“We’re not premier one netballers, well some players are, but Celtic, Waicol, and Harcourts are just a level above us,” Manihera said.
“We’re very happy to stay bottom four because that’s more our level, but we understood from the start that prem one had lost those teams, and we need to drive it and make it better for our local competition, so we were happy to support that if it were a case of us moving up, but we would really like to stay in the bottom four.”
In today’s 1pm game, St Matthew’s are out to score their first win of the championship when they take on premier one debutants Tuhirangi White, who have had one win, a one-point victory over the Vixens, and have been competitive in most other games.
