Mataiasi Stark 
[Source: File]
Organisers of the Crest Fiji Secondary Schools Netball Championship have defended their decision to host this year’s competition at Jai Narayan College, saying no alternative venue in the country could accommodate the tournament’s record participation.
Games Committee member Navitalai Naivalu says criticism of the organising committee following the premature end to the championship overlooked the logistical challenges involved in hosting 63 schools and 120 teams.
“There were a lot of rumours going around on Facebook about changing venues.”
Naivalu revealed that options such as Vodafone Arena and the Netball Centre were considered, but neither was capable of hosting the entire competition.
“Unfortunately, right now Vodafone Arena has been taken by Kula Film and straight after that will be the setting up of the Methodist Church Conference.”
He added that the Netball Centre could not cater for the number of teams involved in the championship.
“We cannot move the games to the Netball Centre because the Netball Centre alone cannot cater for the 63 schools and also the 120 teams.”
Naivalu also rejected claims of poor planning by organisers.
“People are saying there were bad committee decisions and bad organisation. There was no bad organisation.”
With the tournament unable to be completed, all semi-finalists were declared joint winners and shared the prize money and trophies in their respective grades.
