Netball Europe Open Challenge 2020 to be hosted in Gib

Gibraltar Netball received another boost this past weeks when during a Netball Europe conference in Birmingham it was agreed that Gibraltar will be hosting the Netball Europe Open Challenge Cup in May 2020.
The decision means that Gibraltar will once again see one of the top European competitions at its shores further highlighting the continued confidence in Gibraltar’s ability to host international events.
The Open Challenge cup will see the Gibraltar Campions pitted against teams competing to rise into the top tier Open Championship where the likes of England, Wales and Scotland play.
The choice of Gibraltar comes after it has successfully hosted several Netball Europe competitions which have been praised by both the international organisation and teams participating. Gibraltar, has become one of the favoured venues for netball with the climate and facilities providing considerable praise. Gibraltar Netball’s continued drive to bring international events to Gibraltar has also seen them successfully ensure that further competitions will be hosted in Gibraltar. Already the 2021 U17 Netball Europe competitions will be scheduled to take place in Gibraltar. It is also expected that a further announcement of another major events is due to be made.
Gibraltar is also understood to have indicated that they are willing to bid for the 2025 World Youth Championships which would bring some of the top netball youth teams to the Rock.
Gibraltar netball also saw the announcement this week that its umpire will be officiating in a series of test matches for Wales ahead of this summer’s Netball World Cup.
ITID umpire Nadine Pardo Zammit from Gibraltar will be officiating alongside International Umpires at this elite event.
Among the teams playing will be Wales, South Africa, Malawi, Trinidad & Tobago and Grenada with another match against Northern Ireland. Some matches will be televised by BBC. Nadine returns to Gibraltar on Monday day. This will be a great opportunity for the local umpire who has already had success internationally.
There has, however, been some disappointment with the failure of the Gibraltar Youth Commonwealth Games bid for 2023. It had been expected that the Games might provide Gibraltar to host netball as one of the sports in the programme, adding to its profile.
Gibraltar’s success has also translated to a rise in their world ranking.