Irene Van Dyk Presents Unison Medals to Junior Netballers

The 2017 junior winter netball season came a close on Tuesday as around 500 junior players, coaches and their families from across Hawke's Bay gathered for Unison's annual Junior Netball Medal Ceremony at the Bay Outreach Centre in Hastings. Netball 7

Former Silver Fern, Irene van Dyk, presented 183 medals to players aged from 7 to 12 years old who had demonstrated excellence and sportsmanship on the court throughout the season.

Irene van Dyk said the Unison medal ceremony was important for helping to shape young Hawke's Bay netball players.

"I got a real thrill being a part of the ceremony with Unison. It's great to see the kids rewarded for aiming high and demonstrating important values like discipline and fair play. I appreciated being able to share some of my experiences and hopefully inspired some of the young players to keep working hard and potentially become Silver Ferns themselves someday."

Hawke's Bay Netballs Operations Manager, Tina Arlidge said the partnership with Unison which started four years ago made a significant difference to junior netball programmes.

"Since Unison came on board in 2013 the number of junior netball players in Hawke's Bay has significantly increased."

Mr Gough said Unison's support of junior netball was not only about supporting healthy, active young children but also enabled the Company to engage with children on important safety issues.

Unison's final Medal Ceremony in which the regions junior hockey players will be recognised takes place next Tuesday.