Christchurch representative teams are in the final phases of preparation before heading to their respective National Championships in July.

The Under 17 representative team has had a solid lead up since the team was first announced in May. The team were unbeaten at the Queen’s Birthday Tournament in Christchurch and two weeks ago finished second to AMI Auckland 1 at the age group tournament in North Harbour.

This year at Nationals they will be without the additional pressure of being defending champions but will be looking to improve on their fifth placing in 2014. They travel to Mt Maunganui in the second week of July to face North Harbour 1, Papakura, Rotorua and Wairarapa in the pool round.

Coach Shelley Norris said ‘the value for our team moving forward from the North Harbour Tournament was to see the standard of netball that we will face at Nationals. The North Island teams seem to be more body on body and we need to get used to that’.

The Under 19 representative team will no doubt be looking to improve on its 6th placing at last year’s Under 19 Tournament which combines with the Under 23 Nationals. Both competitions will be contested at the Trusts Arena in Auckland from 6 to 9 July.

The Under 19s have been tested in the lead up to the Nationals which will put them in good stead for the depth of competition they will face. The team includes plenty of experience with members of the Tactix Train On and Emerging Talent squads who were also part of the team last year and also includes Fijian International, Kalera Nawai.

Coach Lee McKenzie said, ‘Having 5 members of last year’s team returning gives us a base of experienced players which we expect to lead us through the first round of pool games to contest a spot in the top eight. Our crossover pool is a tough one with North Harbour and Dunedin who we have already met in pre tournament games, so our players will need to be at their peak for our quarter final match on Wednesday’.

Netball Mainland has also announced a strong squad including a number of Tactix and Christchurch Netball Centre players to contest the Under 23 Age Group Championships.

Under 19 representative team: Annabel Angland, Sarah Boomer, Lily Fletcher, Pare Gilmartin-Kara, Bianca Iggo, Rebekah Johnston, Hayley Lee, Kelera Nawai, Anteisha O’Connell, Jess Prosser, Jess Shaw, Gabby Thomas.

Under 17 representative team: Brianne Petersen, Annabel Adams, Georgia White, Brooke Pope-McCaw, Georgia Freeman, Harriet Bush, Pippa Wipperfeuth, Kiana Gallon, Lily Marshal, Grace O’Loughlin, Kendal Everest, Hannah Hutchinson