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While it can be tempting to hibernate indoors with comfort food and a television remote over winter, remaining active and healthy can be your best defence against colds and flu, not to mention the winter blues.
And if you are exercising, why not make it something you’ll enjoy? Team sports such as netball can make physical activity fun instead of a chore. Today more than 200,000* Kiwis participate in netball, making it one of New Zealand’s largest participation sports. Whether it is competitive matches or social games with friends and colleagues, netball plays an important role in keeping New Zealanders fit and healthy.
It is this focus on health and wellness that has seen Southern Cross Medical Care Society join forces with Netball New Zealand to promote the benefits of exercise to people around New Zealand. The main drive of the partnership is to support local grassroots netball to get, and keep, New Zealanders fit and active.
Participation in team sports is a great way to stay motivated. Sports provide you with a social interaction (something else that can go astray in winter) and, potentially, a new group of friends. Netball is a great example of a team sport that can be played anywhere in New Zealand – all you need is a court, a group of friends, a ball and a hoop!
The Southern Cross "Health Zone" section of the Netball New Zealand website, will be the central outlet for engaging with netball players and other Kiwis on the importance of health and fitness. In addition to encouraging New Zealanders to be involved in team sports, it will have a lot of great advice and top tips for training.
The section is fronted by top defender Casey Williams, who, as Southern Cross's netball ambassador, will appear in video segments throughout the Health Zone section offering tips on eating right, motivation, relaxation, life balance, and training and exercise tips.
“Health and wellbeing is important to Southern Cross and vital to my success” says Casey. “So I’m proud to be an ambassador for Southern Cross and help share healthy messages with you.”
Southern Cross Healthcare Group Chief Executive Officer, Dr Ian McPherson, says netball was a natural fit with New Zealand’s largest health insurer and its focus on the health and wellbeing of its 840,000 members.
“From grass-roots, school and club competitions to high performance teams, netball embodies the health and wellness message that Southern Cross stands for,” he says.
* Netballnz.co.nz. There are over 120,000 registered members and a further 80,000 playing in social competitions for over 1000 clubs in 92 Centres nationwide
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