10 February 2000 Programme a 'Real Boost' to Future of Netball – Lincoln University Sports Scholarship Programme 2000

What a marvellous year 1999 was for netball – the World Championships here in Christchurch, a hard-fought Coca Cola competition with an outstanding final between Otago and Southland, and a real boost for the future of the sport in Canterbury with the establishment of the Netball Sports Scholarship Programme at Lincoln University.

The first intake of scholars, 15 of them, from Auckland in the north to Winton in the south, brought a pool of new talent into the province and will provide a strong nucleus for the future development of the sport. We see them as outstanding players, coaches and administrators of the future, and many of them have already lifted themselves to new heights as a result of their involvement with the programme.

Now we welcome a second intake, 14 scholars, again from across the country, and we look forward to another successful year for the scholarship programme.

Canterbury Netball is delighted to be associated with Lincoln University in this innovative enterprise which gives talented young netball players the best of both worlds – playing and coaching opportunities with a region at the forefront of netball in New Zealand combined with academic study towards qualifications which will provide them with the basis for career paths beyond the netball courts later on in life.

It's a golden opportunity which helps all concerned – the sport as a whole, the Canterbury region, and each player as an individual.

We wish those scholars coming in with the 2000 intake every best wish for academic and sporting success.

Noeline Ward, President, Canterbury Netball, Canterbury, New Zealand