Local Netball Club Hosts Big Apple Tournament Following Bank Of America Sponsored, World Youth Netball Championships in Fort Lauderdale
NEW YORK, NY – The United States of America Netball Association (USANA) Inc, officially announced that Manhatten International Netball Club (MINC) will be hosting the first Netball tournament to be held in the Big Apple on Saturday August 20th at 9am.
The tournament will be held on Manhatten’s Lower East Side at Seward Park Athletic Field on Essex Street between Grand and Hester Streets. It will feature players from the USA youth squad and teams from all five NYC boroughs, as well as teams from Connecticut, Tennessee and California.
News of this tournament comes just two weeks after the Closing Ceremony at the Bank of America World Youth Netball Championships 2005, Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The Championships were one of the most important events in the history of International Netball and a key milestone in the history of US Netball, being the first International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA) sanctioned Netball event to be held in the USA since 1895 when James Naismith, the father of Basketball, created the game to accommodate women.
It is USANA Inc’s goal to increase visibility for Netball and boost the number of people playing the sport in the US. The New York tournament continues the momentum built around Netball in Fort Lauderdale and will feature many of the USA youth squad as well as leading talent from Australia, New Zealand, the UK, South Africa and several Caribbean nations.
“By bringing the Big Apple Netball Tournament to New York City we are hoping to broaden the public understanding and knowledge of a sport that focuses on strategy, agility and teamwork,” said Tess Cresson, Vice President, Manhattan International Netball Club. “We encourage people to come and watch the game and even come along to play at our club.”
“Netball is arguably the most popular women’s sport in the world. Although it is played in more than eighty countries worldwide and has over twenty million participants, it is just now getting established in the US,” said Ros Coffey, Chair of the Manhattan International Netball Club, which is organizing the event.
“We applaud Manhatten International Netball Club for taking the initiative to host this event” said Sonia Rodney-Johnson. “Netball is one of the world’s best kept secrets. The Bank of America World Youth Netball Championships was a tremendous success for Netball in the US and MINC is playing its part in boosting awareness by organizing and hosting this tournament.”
Netball is an exciting sport that has extensive reach in many areas of the globe, unifying people from all walks of life – different cultures, different nationalities and different professions”
