By Phina Newton
In netball, there’s no offseason.
Which is something our Pacific Island partners continue to remind us of.
That sentiment rang true when members from netball federations of Fiji, Papua New Guinea, Samoa and Tonga joined the Netball Australia team in Melbourne earlier this month for the second leadership workshop of the year.
The workshop provided a rare chance for colleagues in Australia and other Pacific nations to experience that face-to-face connection. During these sessions plenty of stories, ideas and experienced were shared.
Netball Samoa’s Justine Samu said she had enjoyed connecting with their netball Pacific sisters and brothers and enjoyed knowledge sharing and collaboration.
While her colleague, Alna Pavitt, Netball Samoa’s Media and Marketing Coordinator, said the connections she had made from being part of both workshops this year had improved her ability to do her role.
“It allows me to hear their (colleagues from other nations) side of the story, especially their experiences, their challenges and their solutions to those challenges,” she said.
“We can relate so we feel comfortable to share more because they are on the same page as you.”
Our Pacific partners engaged in a four-day workshop.While the four Pacific nations may have met regularly on court during the last two years, off court, the staff behind the scenes don’t often get the chance to connect. It’s at these workshops, however, that they have grown into a close-knit community, or a Pasifika family.
As Salote Sisifa, CEO of Tonga Netball Association puts it: "I feel we are a little netball family, sisters and brothers of Oceania and Netball Australia is the older sibling."
These relationships are an integral part of what they do, because they have developed a larger support base in netball.
This feeling is mutual amongst the partners with Netball Fiji’s Chief Executive Officer, Vivian Koster, describing it as being a safe space.
“We’re so comfortable with each other now, we are having good conversations and feel comfortable to share,” she said.
While participating in the workshop, partners were lucky to hear from Netball Australia’s First Nations Engagement Lead, Ali Tucker-Munro. A proud Kamilaroi woman with strong family ties with Moree, Tucker-Munro shared her decorated links to netball from playing and coaching.
She also shared some of her experiences as a First Nations woman and how the challenges she faces could lead to mutual cultural literacy learnings within the Pacific.
This resonated with Faumuina Penny Gaualofa Matalavea-Saaga, a Board Director of Netball Samoa, as she summed up the importance of the Fa’a Samoa (Samoan way).
“Culture is our identity,” she said.
Despite culture nuances, across the nations, there was a clear understanding amongst the Pacific partners and Tucker-Munro regarding the emotional toll it takes on them when culture is not respected.
“I’m amongst other First Nations brothers and sisters, who know the power of sport, the power of netball and what it does in our community,” Tucker-Munro said.
By continuing to make space for conversations and sharing experiences Netball Australia’s Pacific family continues to develop.
Sisifa highlights the benefits of having relationships with their pacific brothers and sisters,
"We live in different countries, but our journeys are similar," she says.
"Rather than trying to seek oceans away for answers, it's right at our doorstep with colleagues who can share their experience, and we take and tailor it to what works in our countries."
And with the support of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, netball in the Pacific can help grow the sport on a global scale.
"It's always refreshing to get out of our little bubbles and see the world. It's important to come together to share success stories, best practices used but also our challenges," says Sisifa.
