World Youth Netball Championships

World Youth Netball Championships
Sport Netball
Founded 1988
Continent International (IFNA)
Most recent champion(s) Australia U21

The World Youth Netball Championships is the world championships of netball for national U21 teams, with all players being aged 21 years or younger. The event started in Canberra in 1988, and has been held roughly every four years since.[1] The most recent tournament was held in July 2009 in the Cook Islands, where Australia U21 defeated New Zealand U21 in the finals.[2]

In the lead up to the 2009 World Youth Championship in the Cook Islands, there was considerable anxiety over the facilities, and whether they would be up to standards. The prime minister reconfirmed that his government would deliver a new venue. Before of this, the International Netball Federation also reaffirmed their support for hosting the event in the Cook Islands.[3] The Chinese government had offered to step in and loan the country NZ$9.3 million to help pay the costs for constructing the facility.[4] The loan was controversial as some organizations felt the country had misplaced priorities.[4] During that period, the government also sought to increase the size of the loan for the facility to $13 million NZD.[4] The opposition leader Norman George was very unhappy with how the government handled the whole situation regarding new sporting facilities to be built for the World Youth Netball Championships and the 2009 Pacific Mini Games.[5]

One of the top performances for the Canadian women's national netball team was at the 2nd World Youth Netball Championship when they came in third.[6]

References

Bibliography

See also