Netball Fiji has appointed Dr Simone Nalatu as the new Fiji Netball U21 team coach and Lusiana Nasedra Rakavono as the Manager.
Nalatu and Nasedra will lead the U21 side when they compete in the Netball World Youth Cup Oceania Qualifier in Cook Islands in September and in the Netball World Youth Cup in Gibraltar in 2025.
The newly appointed coach hails from the village of Dakuni, Beqa and is a former Fiji Pearl player who competed in the 2007 in Auckland and 2011 in Singapore World Cups.
She is also a former Queensland Firebird who has played senior netball in Queensland and Australia, and upon retiring from playing in 2011, Nalatu took on coaching roles in the Netball Queensland state league competitions and for the Queensland 17 and Queensland U19 and under teams between 2017 and 2023.
She has also coached in the Australian Netball Championships for both Netball Queensland and more recently the Sunshine Coast Lightning Bolts.
Nalatu is currently the head coach for the Sunshine Coast Thunder which competes in the Hart Sapphires Series in Queensland.
Meanwhile, Lusiana Nasedra Rakavono is from Naqara, Waima, Naitasiri and has played county–level netball in Kent, United Kingdom before returning to Fiji in 2014.
Rakavono has both coached and managed club and district teams in the Suva and Nasinu Netball Associations.
She also coached the Digicel Flames in the Digicel Punjas Reset Championship and the Fiji U21 Selection team against Singapore in 2022.
Rakavono managed the 2023 National Academy 17 and under squad and the 17 and under team in the end-of-year Academy Tournament.
In mid-February, all athletes who competed in the Academy Tournament will re-group for a fitness test and skills training with Nalatu returning to the country.
