Isle of Man hosts first invitational inter-island netball games

The home side will face teams from five other islands between 6 and 11 November

A new inter-island netball tournament on the Isle of Man will provide development opportunities for players and umpires, organisers have said.

The Island Invitational Netball Games will see teams from five islands face the Manx hosts at the National Sport Centre in Douglas.

The event runs from 6 to 11 November.

Isle of Man Netball's Pip Cross said she hoped the event would be a "stepping stone" to the sport featuring in the Island Games in future.

Although netball is not one of the 18 sports hosts of the biennial competition can currently choose from, the group "passionately" believed netball should be an "integral part" of the games, she said.

Five squads of 20 players will travel from Jersey, Guernsey, Ynys Mon, Shetland and Orkney to take part in the inaugural games.

The Isle of Man men's team will also take on Guernsey's men in two matches.

The games will be held at the National Sports Centre in Douglas

Claire Battye, who is the Manx netball development officer and head coach for the national squad, said each side was set to bring umpires to officiate, which would "expand resources between our islands".

The competition would see the islands develop together and create better relationships between them, she said.

Ms Battye said the Manx side featured some "fantastic athletes" and spectators could expect an exciting tournament, with most teams facing each other for the first time.

She said she wanted the first instalment of the competition to lay the groundwork for the tournament, which it was hoped would be hosted by the other competing islands in future.

The matches will be streamed online for supporters of the visiting teams.

The first match of the games will see Ynys Mon take on Shetland at 10:00 GMT on Tuesday, with the home side then facing Guernsey at 18:00.

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