Goal shooter Gina Benjamin believes The Royal's 'humble approach' to the season laid the foundations for their title success in the inaugural ISL netball tournament.

The Royal's triumphed over The Union 36-30 in the ISL netball final on Saturday at Bernard Park.

Finding the net for The Royal were Benjamin and goal attack Kimale Evans, while goal shooter Danielle Raynor and goal attack Ebonie Burgess scored for The Union.

The secret behind the team's success was their unyielding defence, according to Benjamin, who also praised their coach Tanika White for ensuring the players remained focused and motivated throughout the campaign.

"Our focus and strength came from our defence," she said. "Our coach, Tanika White, wanted everyone, even the attackers to play defence.

"It was a rewarding experience. It also humbled us. We didn't want to head into the tournament boasting and drawing attention to ourselves.

"We focused and stuck to our game plan for each game and we didn't take any of the other seven teams for granted."

The vision of the netball tournament founder, David Bascome, was two-fold. He hoped it would create positive female role models as well as enable the Bermuda Netball Association (BNA) to build a strong foundation for the future.

The draft was similar to the Island Soccer League (ISL) selection process with coaches having one pick in each round, with the same eight team names from the ISL to be used in the netball league.

And Benjamin, who relished her role model responsibility, hopes the netball tournament becomes a permanent fixture.

It was a big success. The camaraderie alone makes the tournament something to look forward to in the future," she said.

"Often when playing a competitive sport, you can easily allow your competitiveness to overcome your sportsmanship (but) this tournament was more about sportsmanship and unity.

"Before the tournament, David Bascome, met with all the players and highlighted the goals of the ISL and Hope4Life programme.

"He regarded us as role models for the sport, I believe this encouraged each player to shine on and off the court.

"The tournament was well-attended. The bleachers were full with family, friends and past netball legends. "

The ISL netball tournament falls under the umbrella of Bascome's Hope4Life programme.