The Public Servants Netball Round 2 matches kicked off this Saturday (18th January) at the Rita Flynn Courts much to the excitement of netball fans. President of the Public Servants Association Mary Nauga said, the teams taking part in the tournament compromises of public sector departments in NCD. “The different departments in NCD form a team and come and compete every year. Our season starts in October and then ends in February depending on the number of teams that we have.” Nauga said, for this year, they are looking forward to wrapping up the games on a high note because the Public Servants Netball Association will be celebrating its 35th Anniversary. “This association has been around for the last 35 years. So, this time around, we want to make it bigger and better and invite the other departments to come on board and participate as well.” The focus for the tournament is to keep the working class and/or public servants fit and healthy and to create a space for them to let lose, relax and have a good time on the court before another working week. There’s a total of 37 teams and 47 clubs in each of the 7 divisions. Nauga mentioned that the teams compromise of not only the public servants but their families as well taking part in the competition, making it a more enjoyable getaway from office stress before another work period. The finals are anticipated to be played on the 1st of March which is likely to take place at the Sir john Guise indoor complex followed by the presentation night (a first of its kind) on the 8th of March and are most likely going to host it at Lamana Hotel. Nauga further stated that registration payments have been slow and today is the closing date. “Registrations quite slow. Most of the teams have paid up but we are just waiting for the other departments to pay because obviously the government departs have difficulties getting funds around this time of the year, so we’ve given them a grace period and today is the end of it. We are just hoping that all the teams have paid their fees by now.” “The competition runs on the revenue that come from the registration which is K1000 that covers the venue hire, we pay for our umpires and the balls and equipment’s.” So far, the turn outs have been good but are hoping to field more teams on the empty courts soon. Nauga is also calling for sponsors to come on board and support their competition in the next season going forward.