The new Cook Islands netball coach Dale Atkinson has a busy few months in store before the team competes at the Pacific Games in Port Moresby.
Atkinson says she is always up for a challenge and applied for the vacancy after holding discussions in Fiji during the Oceania Series.
The Cook Islands finished winless at last year's Pacific Series, against Fiji Samoa and Papua New Guinea, and Atkinson says there is plenty room for improvement before the teams meet again in July.
"I'd like to think that out of the four teams that we place higher than fourth but I won't know that until I've got my team together, until we've put our game-plan in place and getting these players to do some work before we go, but a lot can be done in three months. I will be putting a plan together once the team is announced, then I will be contacting those players regularly to make sure that they are on task and helping them, so that when we come together prior to the PNG series we've certainly made some progress."
Only nine players turned up to a trial in Rarotonga this week, with another scheduled for Auckland next month.
The Samoan netball team in Fiji for the Oceania Tri Series. Photo: Netball Samoa
