Girls from two northern Goldfields towns face off in netball comp to boost life skills & well-being

Girls from two northern Goldfields towns have faced off in a netball competition this week to round off a term-long program helping build their resilience and confidence. Students from Laverton and Leonora took part in the Northern Goldfields Cup on Wednesday — a competition they have been working towards for 10 weeks in the Deadly Minds Matter program. Laverton Shooting Stars co-ordinator Holla Lomu said the program used sport to teach the girls from Year 3 to Year 6 life skills. “We use netball as a tool where we could help them learn some well-being strategies and stuff like fitness by eating healthy also,” she said. “The program focuses on the social and emotional well-being of the girls to help build their confidence, connecting to culture and the community.” Ms Lomu said it was great to watch the girls grow in their netball skills throughout the term. “The girls worked really hard doing netball training and learning because they were mostly new to the netball game,” she said. “They really enjoyed time together after the match especially with their families coming through, it was just a big fun day for the community.” The program gave the girls from the two towns the opportunity to connect through letters in the lead-up to Wednesday’s competition. “Our girls had so much fun, they made new friends, and really enjoyed meeting the girls from Leonora,” Ms Lomu said. “We haven’t really connected the two sites together before especially for the juniors. “They started off with a pen pal letter and started sharing their hobbies and stuff like that, just kind of getting to know each other that way before meeting which was pretty cute.” The Leonora team — Leonora Lightning — were the overall winners of Wednesday’s competition but Ms Lomu said the Laverton Kungka Juniors held themselves well despite the loss. “It was really good because even though our girls lost the game, they’ve learned how to control their emotions, not to have a big sook, but just to change that to something positive, cheering the other team on because that’s what the program was about. “It’s about trying to focus on their on their mental well-being, and how to control their emotions when it comes to life skills outside of school.”