Henrietta Williamson and Harriet Gough (Y4) were on the Tactix team bench last week cheering on the team. The girls were part of the coin toss and were interviewed on court pre-match. They then had a fabulous time courtside watching the Tactix pull off their nail-biting win in extra time by 1 goal. A highlight for the girls was catching up with Mrs Seymour after the match and getting lots of players autographs.

Below is the article that Netball NZ will be sharing with their community and they have given us permission to publish this for you to enjoy.

Merivale netballer jumps for joy

Merivale netballer eight-year-old Henrietta Williamson was walking on air when she met the superstars of netball on centre court at Christchurch Arena before the Tactix vs Mystics ANZ Premiership game on Monday.

St Margaret’s College student Henrietta won the chance to meet Jane Watson (Tactix) and Sulu Fitzpatrick (Mystics) and lead the teams onto the court as a part of the ANZ Future Captains programme. Best friend nine-year-old Harriet Gough accompanied her.

Budding netballer Henrietta had her very first five a side game only a week prior and was awestruck seeing the elite teams caught in a tiebreaker. “It was a really exciting game. In the last eight seconds, the Tactix scored a winning goal. I was so excited, I jumped into the air,” she said.

Henrietta says the whole experience was awesome, especially standing centre court with her favourite player, captain Jane Watson. “The captains were so tall! I think she’s a really good defender and she shows good sportsmanship which is really important,” said Henrietta.

Henrietta can’t wait to catch up with her own netball team and tell them how the Tactix scored the win. “You’ve got to jump high a lot and pass the ball to your teammates so they can score. I like helping my teammates,” she said.

ANZ Head of Sponsorship Sue McGregor says ANZ is committed to its support of netballers in Aotearoa from local Christchurch players right up to the elite athletes in the ANZ Premiership and the Silver Ferns.

“That’s why we’re giving 94 young people from all over Aotearoa the chance to be part of the ANZ Premiership and to meet their netball heroes as an ANZ Future Captain. After such a tough year for the netball community in 2020, it’s great we can offer this once in a lifetime opportunity to our country's youngest netball fans and players. We hope this experience inspires them to remain passionate about their training and to try their very best on the court.”

Applications for the ANZ Future Captains programme are now open at anzcourtside.co.nz