The Pasifika Stars Teuila from New Zealand ended their tour of Samoa on a high by beating United Soulz in the U18 final, 21 - 17. The two teams went all out and put everything they had left from the three-day International Netball Festival tournament on the court. 

In an interview, the two captains of Pasifika Stars Teuila, Grace Tutaia and Tereka Solomona said that their last game of the tournament was the most challenging but were happy to get the win. 

"The most challenging part was the last-minute stress and the nerves from all the girls, but we went on the court and we left that all behind. It's way different from us but it was a good experience for us New Zealanders to come and verse against Samoan teams. I think this was a great experience not only for our team but for all the teams that participated. Honestly, them (United Soulz) was the most challenging team, they are a really good team," said Tereka Solomona.

"It was a tough game but we got there in the end. It was a bit stressful on court and off court. They were pretty good and they put up a good challenge for our team," added Grace Tutaia. 

United Soulz captain Elisabeth Pauga shared the same sentiments as the Pasifika Stars captain and will take on the lesson from today's match to improve themselves for upcoming tournaments.

"It was a really good game for everyone, because it gives us an insight on the overseas players because it's always the same girls that we play against here. So, it's nice to see some different faces and play against a different group of girls trained differently from us. They were very good and amazing. There was so much passion on the court, it was really nice to see because we are all here for the love of netball.

"Throughout this three-day tournament, we've just been playing hard and giving it our all. As a captain, for our last game, I just told my team to empty their tanks, it's our last and final game, and of course, have fun. We have built relationships through this sport as well. Every team had their skills and different mix of players but overall I feel like the New Zealand team gave us a good challenge. Every game we played, gave us insights on what we need to do for the next one."

The founder of the tournament, Jane Rushton confirmed that this is the first-ever International Netball Festival hosted in Samoa. They initially started this festival to blend cultures and communities together through netball.

"We've run one in Fiji, New Zealand, and the Gold Coast in Australia. It keeps the girls in sports and off the social media. We have competitive and development teams that come and play. We were very impressed with the local teams, they were faboulous, Samoa teams all got to the finals as well the travelling teams. It was a really good combination, were very impressed especially with the school teams as well. We definitely want to come back," she said.