SPORT IN ACTION (SIA) PARTNERS WITH WORLD NETBALL TO ROLL OUT HUB-SITES IN COTE D’IVOIRE

Recently our Sport Development Manager, Jack Preston, travelled to Cote d’Ivoire to to officially orient 57 participants on what a Hub-Site is, how they can develop netball, how they can transform communities and lives, and how to actually create and implement their very own!

The 57 participants came from across Cote d’Ivoire, with coaches and sports facilitators coming from areas across the capital city, Abidjan, all the way to further afield areas such as Bouake, Yamoussoukro, Abengouro, Dabou, and Aboisso.

The orientation was graced and applauded by Cote d’Ivoire’s ministry of Sport and Lifestyle Development as a much-needed project, and a project they feel can really grow the game of Netball, but also because of Netballs ability to attract young girls to the sport, they were highly positive about the ability the Hub-Sites would have in developing the lives of young women and girls.

This opportunity stemmed from SIAs partnership with World Netball. Joan Smit, the Africa Regional Development Manager for World Netball stated; “The Netball hub-sites are a brilliant Netball Development Model which was also a part of the very successful 2019 World Cup legacy project, which saw Zambia have huge success and make large strides forward. Because of the success and sustainability of the Hub-Sites in Zambia, we decided that the hubs would be the perfect project to rollout to the rest of Africa, beginning here in Cote d’Ivoire”.

The Ivorian Netball President, Dr Mosis Clemence was extremely upbeat and grateful for the hub-site project being taken to Cote d’Ivoire; “We want to say thank you to WorldNetball and Sport In Action. We are very motivated by your faith in us to deliver, and we will do everything in our ability to ensure what you have brought us is nurtured, and grows. We have seen what Zambia have achieved and we want to not only match their success, but even overtake them if we can”. Dr Mosis Clemence also stated; “I really wish to visit Zambia, and share and learn with the Netball family there, this I hope is the start of a great journey”.

Netball in Cote d’Ivoire is a very new sport, and as such has a lot of opportunity to grow. The trainees that attended the orientation were extremely excited to be the group that could lead this growth of Netball across their nation.

Jack Preston, The SIA Sport Development Manager, and the Head Implementer for the Project was impressed by the Trainees; “There is so much potential here, the way that this group has grasped the concept, and are excited about what it will enable them to create is exciting for me too! This project is really close to me, and to see this group of incredible people embrace and own it is really encouraging”.

On the final day of the Orientation, the trainees were asked to formulate two short to medium term goals. One of these goals was the delivery of their first hub-site tournaments before the end of March 2025.

We can’t wait to see the action and the updates as the Hub-Sites in Cote d’Ivoire grow and develop!