The inaugural Venus Netball Rally brought together many from the local netball community for an evening of competitive play and spirited camaraderie.
The event, an initiative of the newly formed Venus Netball Club, is one that the club’s founder and manager Bob McBean described as a “great success”.
The rally featured a dynamic, shortened game format designed to enhance pace and excitement.
Teams were divided into two divisions, under-16 and 17 and over, playing multiple games on the evening of 20 Sept. at the Truman Bodden Sports Complex courts.
The younger division saw the Cayman Islands Netball Association’s under-16 Team A in training take home first place.
Cayman Fury A finished in second place, after overcoming the Cayman Islands Netball Association’s under-16 Team B in training.
Kerrica Harris, captain of the winning under-16 team, said, “My team did really well because we’re not even an [official] team yet, and we’re playing like a full team that has been playing for a long time.”
Cayman Fury A captain, Isabella Cecere, said that, despite her team being younger in age, they had a “really fun time on court”.
“I think we all just worked really well together as a team. We all did very well at defending, and our shooters did [a good job at] getting open,” Cecere said.
A failure to meet registration compliance led to the disqualification of the Elite A and Elite B teams from the rally, which in turn altered the final results of the 17-and-over division.
Venus A emerged as the first-place winner after the original winner, Elite A, was disqualified. This also led to ZIM-KY taking second place and Rising Stars rounding out the top three.
From slow start to successful event
The success of the event, which McBean said was “funded entirely out of pocket”, took roughly two months to plan.
He said there were challenges during the organisation of the event, such as slow team registration; however, the momentum picked up closer to the date of the event.
The effort paid off, with McBean, saying, “On the day of the rally, everything came together beautifully. The turnout was excellent, the atmosphere was lively, and the games were filled with energy, competition, and good sportsmanship.
“The support from the players, spectators, and the wider community made all the hard work worthwhile.”
Looking ahead, he is optimistic about the future saying, “This experience taught Venus Netball Club valuable lessons that will help us improve and make our next rally even better.
“We have many more tournaments and events to come, and we look forward to building on this success to grow netball even further in the Cayman Islands.”
