The Singapore Vandas, the national women’s netball team, returns to home court for the Singlife Nations Cup, an annual international tournament, which will be held at the OCBC Arena from Nov 2 to 8.
Named after Singapore’s national flower, the Vanda Miss Joaquim, the 12-member team, ranked 22nd in the world, is poised to bloom as it takes on a competitive field, which includes Kenya, Malaysia, the Isle of Man, and Papua New Guinea.
Head coach Tara Steel, 40, noted that a couple of match-ups to look forward to are Singapore versus Kenya (Nov 4 at 7pm) and Singapore versus Malaysia (Nov 7 at 7pm).
Kenya, winners of the 2024 Nations Cup, lost to Singapore in the inaugural UAE Netball Cup in June. “No doubt, Kenya will be looking to win given the rematch opportunity,” Steel said.
“Both teams contrast each other from a style perspective. Kenya plays a bit more of a possession game, whereas we play a bit more direct and focus on our speed throughout the court.”
The match against Malaysia will serve as a prelude to the Southeast Asian Games in Thailand this December, where both neighbouring countries are set to compete, offering an opportunity for the teams to size each other up.
The Vandas train five days a week at the Singapore Sports Hub, alternating between gym and court sessions. On Sundays, they do conditioning on their own, while Fridays are their free days.
After one of those sessions, tabla! spoke to three national players to learn more about their involvement in netball and what it means to represent Singapore.
Reena Divya, 27, had no intention of playing netball until she had to do a sports module at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, where she attained a diploma in biomedical engineering. She originally chose football as she used to play it, but the coach suggested she consider netball instead because of her height.
Height can be advantageous in certain positions, according to Steel, and standing at 1.8 metres tall, Reena was invited to a netball tryout. “I got absolutely smashed during the session but decided to go back because I wanted to challenge myself,” Reena said.
“From young, I always enjoyed playing sports and sort of wanted to be an athlete. I received more opportunities to do so after joining netball, so I pursued it.”
After polytechnic, Reena worked her way up through local netball teams such as the Sneakers, the U21s, and the local league, before being scouted for the national team in 2018. She currently plays the goalkeeper and goal defence positions, alongside teammate K. Mishalenee, 23. The latter has been playing the sport for around 15 years, starting when her mother signed her up for her primary school’s netball club at age eight.
Mishalenee gained admission to CHIJ Toa Payoh secondary school and Anglo-Chinese Junior College through the Direct School Admissions programme for netball before joining the national team in 2023.
“It’s a dream come true to don the red dress and represent Singapore. As a kid, I remember supporting the national team,” Mishalenee said. Her mother used to play netball too, and is fully supportive of her daughter’s role as a national player.
“I’ll go home after training and be surprised by bottles of protein shake that my mother bought for me. She also works as a teacher, and despite her packed schedule, she will take leave sometimes just to come down and watch my games,” Mishalenee added.
Family support is a common trait across the three players, as evident in goal attack and goal shooter Amandeep Chahal’s netball journey.
“Everyone gets excited, and it becomes a family event every time I play in Singapore. My extended relatives, sometimes up to 20 of them, will come down together to watch my games,” said the 25-year-old.
Amandeep began playing netball in primary school, but did not pursue it seriously until she entered Raffles Junior College, where she was inspired by her schoolmates who were both academically driven and competed in sports at the national level.
“In JC, I actually put in effort to do well for the trials and got into the U19s. That was the start of my dream to become a national player,” Amandeep said. She joined the Vandas in 2022 and was the team’s Most Valuable Player at the 2024 Nations Cup.
The camaraderie of a team sport is another reason all three players were drawn to netball. This was exemplified during the 2024 Asian Netball Championship finals in India, where the team drew with Sri Lanka and the match went into overtime.
“All of us were exhausted, and we didn’t want to draw again, so everyone locked in and were in sync with each other on the court,” said Amandeep. Their teamwork earned Singapore its fourth Asian Netball Championship trophy, and the first in the past 10 years.
However, all three players agreed that staying in the sport long-term is challenging due to financial constraints. Reena works full-time as a software engineer, while Mishalenee is a psychology undergraduate at the Singapore Institute of Management, and Amandeep is a PhD student in sports science at Nanyang Technological University.
An Australian with 18 years of coaching experience, Steel joined the Singapore Vandas in April this year on a two-year contract. She, too, observed key differences between athletes in Singapore and Australia, where netball is a major sport.
“The reality in Singapore is still going to be that, regardless of your ethnicity or gender, national players are still going to have to be working or studying. The goal then is to try and attract more sponsors, get more opportunities where these athletes are more supported while they’re playing for their country,” Steel said.
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