Neta Waqanivalu learnt a lot when she represented the North West in touch football last month, but it was the team spirit she valued the most.
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Speedy and enthusiastic, the Inverell Public School student faced tough competition at the state level, with many city rivals having had more time to train together.
“We only train every second Sunday at Tamworth,” Waqanivalu explained. The North West team also had to adapt to one team mate dropping out, replaced by a reserve player.
The local team slowly came together over the course of the competition.
“On our first day, we played six games. We lost all of them. The next day we played four, lost them again,” Waqanivalu said. On the last day, there was only two games left.
“We were so close to winning our last one, but they just beat us!” Waqanivalu said.
She enjoyed working with team mates from all over the region, and getting to know their different skill sets and styles. She loved the competition and chance to meet new friends.
Her favourite part was “How we work together really often, and if we drop the ball, instead of giving each other bad comments, we would always be positive and say ‘it’s ok, we’ll get it next time’”.