Netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

Samoa Samoa, officially the Independent State of Samoa; sm, Sāmoa, and until 1997 known as Western Samoa, is a Polynesian island country consisting of two main islands (Savai'i and Upolu); two smaller, inhabited islands (Manono Island, Manono an ...

is a popular game, usually played by girls on Saturdays during the winter, though games can be played at all times of the year. The sport started to grow in popularity during the 1970s. The popularity of netball is also growing amongst men on the island.

International competition

Samoa and

Fiji Fiji ( , ,; fj, Viti, ; Fiji Hindi: फ़िजी, ''Fijī''), officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists ...

are traditional netball rivals. This rivalry can be seen at events like

Pacific Games The Pacific Games (French: Jeux du Pacifique), is a continental multi-sport event held every four years among athletes from Oceania. The inaugural Games took place in 1963 in Suva, Fiji, and most recently in 2019 in Apia, Samoa. The Games wer ...

. As of August 2016, the women's national team was ranked fourteen in the world. Samoa has a men's national team that has competed in the 2009 and 2011 International Challenge Men's and Mixed Netball Tournament. At

Gay Games VI The Gay Games is a worldwide sport and cultural event that promotes acceptance of sexual diversity, featuring lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) athletes, artists and other individuals. Founded as the Gay Olympics, it was star ...

, a

transgender A transgender (often abbreviated as trans) person is someone whose gender identity or gender expression does not correspond with their sex assigned at birth. Many transgender people experience dysphoria, which they seek to alleviate through tr ...

netball from Samoa competed.

Notable players

Rita Fatialofa Rita Taimalietane Fatialofa-Patolo (née Fatialofa, born 1963) is a Samoan sportsperson who played netball and softball for New Zealand. Biography Fatialofa-Patolo attended Lynfield College in Auckland. She played for the New Zealand nat ...

is a Samoan netball player, who later went on to compete on New Zealand's national team. She became the coach for the Samoan national team, qualifying them for every

, as well as

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

and 1995 Netball World Championships.SportingPulse profile
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Cathrine Latu Cathrine Tuivaiti (née Latu; born 25 October 1986 in West Auckland, New Zealand) is a New Zealand netball player of Tongan, Samoan, and Māori descent. Career Early career Cathrine Tuivaiti was a member of the New Zealand Secondary Schools ...

is another famous Samoan player who went on to play for New Zealand.

References

Bibliography

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External links

Oceania Sport
{{DEFAULTSORT:Netball in Samoa