By Talaia Mika, RNZ Pacific correspondent
Five strong teams are in Tonga to compete for a spot in the World Cup Qualifiers including Tonga, who finds confidence from their home soil as they prepare to host the tournament next week.
It’s a double celebration for Tonga next week, given it’s their first time playing on their home soil and being able to host the Qualifiers at the same time.
Despite this, Tonga Netball Association chief executive Salote Sisifa said Tonga is confident of securing one of two remaining spots at next year’s Netball World Cup in Sydney when the Pacific qualifier gets underway on home soil next week.
Sisifa, who is also president of Oceania Netball, said the experience has provided valuable lessons for the team heading into the qualifier.
“Tonga came out 9th place out of 12 top teams that were participating. And we take the learnings off that. Tonga was of course the only team from Pacific there.”
The tournament in Tonga will feature five Pacific teams competing for two World Cup places, with Fiji, Samoa, Cook Islands, Papua New Guinea and Tonga all taking part.
Tonga enters the tournament after competing at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow six weeks ago, where the side made its debut and finished ninth out of 12 teams.
Tonga Netball Association chief executive Salote Sisifa
Talaia Mika
Sisifa said Samoa and Fiji are likely to pose the biggest challenges based on world rankings, but she does not believe rankings tell the full story.
“If I have to be honest, in terms of ranking wise, the biggest challenge would be Samoa and then Fiji of course. And they are the next two right after Tonga in terms of ranking.”
“But having said that, I don’t feel at times that these world rankings really do justice in terms, and the score even, in terms of the performances of the teams. Because every team is an underdog.”
She said Tonga will treat every match as a major challenge and will not take any opponent lightly.
“So going into this competition, every team is a high team for Tonga, the way we look at it and the preparations full on from Game 1 to Game 4, not leaving anything behind.”
Tonga is currently ranked seventh in the world and enters the tournament as the highest-ranked team among the five Pacific nations.
Sisifa said the team is determined not only to qualify for Sydney but also to reinforce its position among the world’s top 10.
“We’re at number seven in the world. And, you know, we need to and we have to solidify our place as being in the top ten of world netball coming into this competition.”
She said Tonga has remained in the world’s top 10 for the past three years.
“It’s only right that, yes, backing our team, we have sat at top ten for the last three years and coming in as the highest ranking.”
Despite the confidence, preparing the squad presents its own challenges.
The players and management are spread across three countries and nine different states, with the team often having less than a week together in camp before a major competition.
Sisifa said that means the team relies heavily on the players’ discipline, honesty and commitment to maintaining their fitness when they are apart.
“We highly rely on the honesty of players and their self-discipline to maintain themselves.”
She also credits the coaching staff for keeping in regular contact with players and monitoring their fitness while they are based overseas.
“I have to give it to the players, their honesty, their discipline, looking after each other and themselves when they’re not together and coming together.”
For Sisifa, the make-up of the team also highlights a wider challenge facing netball in Tonga and across Oceania.
No members of the current Team Tonga squad live in Tonga, with the players coming from the Tongan diaspora in New Zealand and Australia.
Sisifa said Oceania Netball and Tonga need to work towards narrowing the gap between local players and the high-performance level required to compete internationally.
“What we’re trying at the moment, and it’s a challenge for Oceania and Tonga included, is trying to bridge the gap between local talent and high performance.”
She said the tournament will also give young people in Tonga the opportunity to see elite netball played at home.
Sisifa is encouraging supporters from Tonga and the wider Pacific diaspora to attend the tournament and get behind their teams.
When asked what the next step would be if Tonga failed to qualify, Sisifa dismissed the possibility saying: “that’s not even a question because we’re going to qualify.”
