Events in Waikato: Netball, rugby, dance part of event calendar
After a successful 2024 Europe tour, the Royal Family Dance Crew are touring New Zealand. The crew previously performed at American Idol, the Grammys, and Super Bowl Halftime Shows. Tickets online via Ticketek.
● ANZ Premiership Magic vs Steel, May 19, 7.30pm at Globox Arena, Hamilton
See your local netball team, Avis Magic, as they take on the Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel in Round 2 of the 2025 ANZ Premiership. Tickets online via Ticketek.
● Mamma Mia – the Musical, May 20-25, 7pm at Taupō nui-a-Tia College, Taupō
The school's production of Mamma Mia, set to Abba's timeless hits, tells the story of Sophie, a bride-to-be on a Greek island, who secretly invites three possible fathers to her wedding, hoping to discover who her real father is. Tickets online via trybooking.com.
● Digital Afterlives, theatre performance, May 22-24 at The Meteor Theatre
Constructed word-for-word from interviews with everyday New Zealanders, the play explores how we connect, remember, and honour loved ones through social media and other online platforms after they've passed. Tickets via The Meteor website.
● NZ Highwaymen in concert, May 23, 7.30pm at Claudelands Event Centre, Hamilton
The NZ Highwaymen, Brendan Dugan, Gray Bartlett, Dennis Marsh and Frankie Stevens are on the road again and coming to Hamilton. Tickets online via Ticketek.
● Super Rugby: Chiefs vs Moana Pasifika, May 24, 7.05pm at FMG Stadium Waikato
The Gallagher Chiefs are ready to take on Moana Pasifika in the final home game of the regular season. Tickets online via chiefs.flicket.co.nz.
● ANZ Premiership Magic vs Tactix, May 25, 4pm at Globox Arena, Hamilton
The Avis Magic take on the VIP Frames & Trusses Tactix in Round 3 of the 2025 ANZ Premiership. Tickets online via Ticketek.
● Prima Facie, theatre performance, May 28, 11am at Clarence St Theatre, Hamilton
Directed by Michael Hurst and performed by Cassandra Woodhouse, NZ Theatre Company brings Prima Facie to Hamilton. The one-woman play follows Tessa Ensler, a top criminal defence barrister forced to confront the system she has spent her life believing in. Tickets via Ticketek.
● NZNBL: Tauranga Whai vs Franklin Bulls, May 29, 7pm at Globox Arena, Hamilton
Eleven teams are currently vying for the top spot in the NZ National Basketball League. At the end of May, the Bulls are playing the Whai in Hamilton. Tickets online via Ticketek.
● Classic Cars & Classic Tunes, fundraiser, May 31, 6pm at Jukebox Diner & Classics Museum, 11 Railside Place, Hamilton
Students from the University of Waikato are putting together a fundraiser for charity Canteen, which provides support for rangatahi affected by cancer. Tickets are available via Eventfinda and include access to the museum, dance party, food and silent auction.
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Scoop
2 hours ago
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Starting Strong: First Place Tactix Believe They Are Just Get Started
After posting their biggest ANZ Premiership win so far, the Tactix believe they have not reached their full potential as the team prepares for a round-five rematch against the Steel in Invercargill. Week-on-week, the team has been learning in game errors and have been working hard to protect their possession of the ball, with the side delivering the highest rate of intercepts and deflections with gains in round four. Reflecting on their on court gains, goal shoot Martina Salmon believes the show of improvement for both attack and defence, is only the tip of the iceberg for the Tactix. 'As a team we are just getting started, and we have so much more to give on court,' Salmon said. ''I am looking forward to what the team brings in this week's game against the Steel.' Meanwhile, Tactix head coach Donna Wilkins is resisting making too many player changes, but acknowledges the coveted shooting positions are competitive with Martina Salmon, Ellie Bird and Te Paea Selby-Rickit performing well. 'I have to be a bit more ruthless, I don't like to make a lot of changes, but I will switch things up if it isn't working…at the end of the day it is about the team result,' Wilkins said. Wilkins reiterated that the shooter's cautious use of the two-point shot is proving a winning strategy, with Ellie Bird landing 100% of her one-point goal attempts against the Mystics. 'We are seeing the other teams starting to take the two-point shot less and less, unless it comes with a degree of certainty. In the first round we saw teams taking over ten attempts, and that is drastically changing,' Wilkins said. In her seventh season for the Tactix, Ellie Bird believes working on her mindset has positively impacted her game, and helped her land 50 out of 50 shots in the last game. 'I have shifted my mentality, it's not my netball mindset that has changed, it is my mindset in life that has changed - positivity, self-belief, not beating myself up when I make mistakes, throwing perfectionism out the window… you can really surprise yourself with how much further you can go when you take those limitations out,' Bird said. She has also observed the team quickly adapting to a new era of netball under Wilkin's coaching expertise. 'I really love Donna, she has a lot to add, she has a real passion for the sport and you can see the fiery passion that she had when she was playing, come through in her coaching,' Bird said. The well-aged combination of Ellie Bird and Te Paea Selby-Rickit has brought success to the goal circle, with Bird saying they can read each other's next move on court. 'Te Paea will always be looking at me to pass the ball and I am always ready, there is a trust and confidence that you build over six years together,' Bird said. She believes the Tactix will have to work to stay at the top of the table, but the secret to success comes down to attitude and putting in the work off the court as well. 'Staying at the top just takes the top 10%, it's the team's mindset that will get us there.'
Scoop
2 hours ago
- Scoop
Pulse Happy To Be Home As Season Tightens Up
Building into some quality form, Te Wānanga o Raukawa Pulse are eagerly awaiting their ANZ Premiership netball league re-match against the Northern Mystics in Wellington on Sunday. The match marks the halfway point of the campaign, this year's season being reduced to just two rounds and putting the squeeze on the importance of winning each outing. The Pulse and Mystics sit second and third, respectively, on the points table, equal on points but with the Pulse enjoying a better goal differential. The Mystics outshone the Pulse by 11 goals three weeks ago but a lot has changed since then. ``One less round has certainly made the situation a little bit more intense,'' play-making Pulse goal attack Tiana Metuarau said. ``You don't get another round to save yourselves, so every game is a must-win and we want to put ourselves in the best possible position for whatever the end of the season will look like……and put ourselves in a good position for the business end. ``We want to go all the way, of course, and we've been chipping away since the first game, so we're excited for this weekend.'' With the Pulse's attack line of Maddy Gordon, Whitney Souness, Metuarau and Amelia Walmsley playing a full 60 minutes together for the first time since 2023 in last week's match-up against the Steel, the signs for further progress are encouraging. And they are confident the necessary improvements and adjustments will happen second-time around against the Mystics, who have their own problems with uncertainty around the hand injury sustained by key shooter Donnell Wallam. ``During our pre-season we were so disrupted and a huge portion of our starting seven were on managed loads or weren't playing at all and I've only played about six or seven ANZ games in the last two years post my injury last year, so like anything, the more you do it, the better you get at it,'' Metuarau said. ``And so with the more game time we're getting as a team and as a group, I feel like we're making huge improvements and progress to be heading in the right direction.'' The Pulse got the confidence-booster they were after against the Steel, negating the influence of what can be an intimidating Invercargill crowd and showing character to come back from a strong third quarter surge from the home side to finish with a bang when posting a 25-goal winning margin. ``We all did our jobs really well, and that's what netball is. If you do your job well, you should win and that's what happened at the weekend,'' Metuarau said. ``Scoring a couple of super shots in the third quarter gave us a bit of confidence as well. With the new rules, anything within 10 goals is a somewhat pressured situation. You only have to score five two-pointers to catch up, so it's a different dynamic but definitely to head into the last quarter with over 10 points was really good for us.'' A dynamic on-court presence, Metuarau, 24, notched 100 games for the Pulse earlier in the season, playing a total of 119 so far during her career after also spending 2021 with the Steel, and nowadays is somewhat of a veteran after bursting on to the scene as a 16-year-old schoolgirl in 2017. Happy with her form and how she's tracking this season, Metuarau had her best super shot return with five from eight against the Steel and while enjoying the associated buzz has some reservations. ``I'm still very much in the mindset that it changes the game because teams can score twice as many points with doing half the amount of work type of thing,'' she said. ``The frustrating thing is if you're able to get a buffer, then the opposition start hitting all these twos, it takes away from that traditional piece of the game, all the intricacies and things that go with it, so that's the only thing I have against it. ``But it is exciting and it definitely makes you feel good when you knock down some twos.'' After successive weekends playing in Auckland followed by the long haul south to Invercargill, the Pulse can't wait to play their first match in Wellington and their much-loved home at TSB Arena on Sunday.
Otago Daily Times
18 hours ago
- Otago Daily Times
Game shooting in ‘right direction'
Southern Steel shooter Aliyah Dunn (left) puts up her shot as Central Pulse defender Parris Mason, Steel shooter Georgia Heffernan and Pulse defender Kelly Jackson watch on under the hoop in Invercargill. PHOTO: MICHAEL BRADLEY PHOTOGRAPHY Netball New Zealand chief executive Jennie Wyllie believes things are heading in the right direction for the sport. She confirmed last week the ANZ Premiership, facing an uncertain future due to a new broadcast deal, would return next year with all six teams involved and was likely to be played during the same time frame as this season. The 2025 season has hit the ground running and Wyllie said broadcast ratings were up 40% and the community game was "thriving". "What we're seeing is Kiwis are loving it," Wyllie told the Otago Daily Times. "It's all pointing in the right direction for netball." The ANZ Premiership has been slashed from three rounds to two this season — which means teams get only 10 games before the playoffs — and there have been innovations including the two-point shot, timeouts and a coaches box. Wyllie said there had been some "heart-stopping moments" through the opening games, and while she conceded two rounds did not make a long season, she was pleased all teams hit the court strongly. Like many traditional netballers, Wyllie admitted she had reservations about introducing the two-point shot, but felt it had its place. "It's going down well. The players are enjoying it," she said. "Sometimes you could have been a minute to go, three goals down and thought the game was done — that is no longer the case. "I think those kind of things have been really interesting talking points and great to be able to see it come to life as we envisaged it when we were planning." The tactical nature of timeouts, and when coaches used their coaches box to deliver messages during the game, intrigued her the most. "What I've loved is the strategic nature of what I'm hearing from the coaches box, when they're using their timeouts and when they're talking with their players. "We've got three new coaches in the mix this year and it's brought a really different dynamic. "I'm really impressed with how they're all being quite strategic. "I think that for me as a netty is really exciting." Aside from their blip against the Central Pulse at the weekend, the Southern Steel have been tracking well this season. They recorded a massive win over the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic and were pipped by one point against the defending champions, the Northern Mystics. Even Wyllie thought the Steel had secured a win over the Mystics — "I was screaming at the TV that there was time" — but she was proud to see how they were bouncing back after a tough couple of years. "I think it's amazing resilience and to see a team that have had a tough few years, injury plagues, with a fresh new coach in there, they've been formidable." The ANZ Premiership reaches the halfway point this weekend. The Mainland Tactix hold top spot with three wins and one loss. The Pulse and the Mystics, who are awaiting results on Australian Diamond Donnell Wallam's wrist injury, round out the top three. The Steel sit fourth with one win and three losses, followed by the Magic — who picked up their first win on Monday — and the Northern Stars. In round five, the Steel are home to the Tactix, the Pulse meet the Mystics and in a repeat of this week's game, the Stars play the Magic.
