Bali to Host International Netball Tournament

(10/8/2007)

Bali will play host to its first international netball tournament on November 3, 2007, when home-town favorites from the Stiff Chilli Bali Flames Netball Club take on teams from Surabaya, Thailand, Singapore and Hong Kong.

"We plan to make this tournament an annual event on Bali's sporting calendar," said Flames' Coach and Captain, Marian Hinchliffe. "It is about providing women in Bali with an opportunity to take part in some competitive yet friendly team sport. There are plenty of sporting teams in Bali, but none dedicated to developing women's sport and the Flames hopes to fill this gap and get the women of Bali on the ball!"

The inaugural Bali Sevens International Netball Tournament will be held at Bali International School in Sanur and will be followed by an awards presentation dinner at Stiff Chilli Restaurant in Sanur.

The Bali tournament follows the Flames' recent tour to Bangkok, where they were runners-up in a regional tournament. Officially launched in June 2007 with a formal sponsorship deal with Stiff Chilli Restaurants, the Flames have operated at an informal level for the past five years. The team has a diverse, multinational membership hailing from Australia, New Zealand, England, the United States of America, Indonesia, the Philippines and Japan. Many team members learned to play netball with the Club.

What is Netball?

Predominantly a Commonwealth Nations' sport, netball is the pre-eminent women's sport in Australia and New Zealand. It is also popular in other former British colonies, such as Canada, Malaysia, Singapore and Sri Lanka. A non-contact sport roughly similar in characteristics to basketball; there are goal rings at each end and a 'centre' circle at which play begins after each goal, but netball does not allow bouncing, contacting, obstructing or running with the ball. It is a fast-paced, strategic game with high scoring.

Join the fun and action the Bali International School on Saturday, November 3, 2007.