Music and sausage balloons support major sports event

Last Saturday my daughter and I went to see New Zealand's Silver Ferns play Samoa at Te Rauparaha Arena, Porirua. It was exciting going to a national netball game. I realised that I'd seen the All Blacks several times, but I'd never seen the Silver Ferns play live until now. The stadium was packed with mainly women and children, enthusiatic to see their netball heroes represent New Zealand, and for many represent their country of origin Samoa. The crowd was hyped, waiting in anticipation with snacks, drinks and coffees. They blew up the plastic New World sausage balloons handed out in the foyer, ready to applaude the teams.

The Diamond Divas were awesome at warming up the mixed aged crowd with funky rendations of rock/pop classics like: 'Mustang Sally', 'Carwash,' 'We are Family,' and 'You're simply the best'. The Maori/Pacific divas had loud husky voices suited to the songs. They were in sync with the largely Polynesian audience representative of Porirua and it's sporting population. The Divas had the whole crowd singing and clapping, which added to the atmosphere in the stadium. Frankie Stevens was aptly suited to the role of MC, with his big personality and unique bass voice. He joined the duo in a couple of songs, his tone the perfect compliment to the divas. Soon Frankie announced the Samoan team who were mainly solid in stature and shorter in height compared with the athletic, tall Silver Ferns. The Samoan team jogged on to the court dressed in royal blue and the crowd gave them a grand welcome. Then came the statuesque Silver Ferns who looked stunning in fitted black netball dresses accentuated with silver stripes. The teams of women were pumped and strong. They gave a short display of fantastic netball manouveurs to warm up with a deafening applause from their fans.

The velvet voice of Bella Kalolo rang through the stadium. Bella has sung with many well known New Zealand bands such as Fat Freddy's Drop. She started with Samoa's national anthem followed by the Maori version of New Zealand's and 'God of Nations'. You couldn't help but be moved as the crowd stood in respect for the national anthems.

The Samoan side were no match for the quick gliding moves of the Silver Fern amazons. As they shot the ball in the hoop again the crowd banged their sausage balloons looking like seals clapping their flippers. The crowd was wired! and the poor icecream guy paced up and down in front of the grandstand, his glum face showing his discomfort doing the job, while he looked up at the faces looking on in the stands, wishing someone would give him an order.

It was an excellent afternoon of top level netball combined with great entertainment. Final score: New Zealand Silver Ferns 92, Samoa 28. My daughter's words at the end of the game summed up the day. She is 14, herself a competitive netball player who was spell bound throughout the match as she named her favourite players. 'I want to be a Silver Fern' she said.

It was a good vibe as we left the stadium, proud of our netballers, proud to be a girl and a woman. But I wondered what would happen to the trail of discarded plastic New World sausage balloons. 'Arrgh more horrible plastic in our landfills, in the world' I thought.