National Tertiary Netball Championship Set to Decide 2026 Series

The 2026 National Tertiary Championship Series will come down to its final weekend, with the Championship Shield and Spirit Award both still to be decided when the country’s top university netball teams meet at AUT's North Campus in Auckland on 26–27 September.

Eight teams will take to the court across the two-day National Tertiary Netball Championship, with Saturday featuring a round-robin pool play format before the competition moves into crossover semifinals and finals on Sunday.

The draw promises an intriguing opening day, as the top-seeded defending champions AUT will take on Otago, Waikato and Victoria University of Wellington in Pool A, while Pool B features Lincoln, Canterbury, Auckland and Massey.

The action begins at 9am, with hosts AUT taking on Waikato and Otago facing Victoria University of Wellington in the opening Pool A matches. Pool B gets underway at 10:15am, with Lincoln meeting Auckland and Canterbury taking on Massey.

Sunday will see the competition move into its knockout stages, with the top two teams from each pool progressing to the championship semifinals. The championship decider is scheduled for 2pm, bringing both the national netball title and the 2026 Championship Series to its conclusion.

The local universities are among the favourites as AUT will be looking to defend the title it claimed in 2025, while the University of Auckland will be aiming to add another championship to a proud history that includes titles in 2024, 2022, 2019 and 2016. The University of Otago will have to perform well if they wish to claim the overall Shield, as they need to bridge the 3-point gap between themselves and Auckland.

Also in the hunt for the Spirit Award’s Te Kaitiaki, Otago will need to chase down Massey as the final weekend of the 2026 Championship Series promises plenty of significance beyond the netball court.

One final tournament, two season-long awards, and everything still to play for. The 2026 Championship Series will be decided in Auckland this weekend.

Watch live: www.youtube.com/@utsnz/streams

Draws & results: https://tournifyapp.com/live/26ntnc