National Schools

National Schools Finals Day - 2010 Champions crowned                       

Rodean School in Brighton witnessed 43 schools, place 54 teams in over 260 games of netball on Saturday 20th March. The annual National Schools Finals Day 2010, hosted by England Netball, saw over 600 young netballers compete in the wind and intermittent rain to win their age groups’ winning trophy.

Barking Abbey won the Under 19 category, beating Hartbury College 11 goals to 4. The London & South East based school had finished first place in their section and had scored a total of 105 goals before entering the final rounds of the competition.

Bromsgrove School beat Loreto Grammar School 13 goals to 7 in the Under 16 Final. The team from the West Midlands region had finished second place in their section to Herts & Essex High School, however the first place team were beaten in the Semi-Final by Loreto Grammar School. Last year Bromsgrove won the Under 14 category.

Hulme Grammar School won the Under 14 category by one goal in the Final against Parkstone Grammar, the final score being 8 goals to 7. The North West, Oldham, based school had entered the competition as a regional runner up and they entered the Semi Final round in second place behind their section winner Kings School Worcester. Kings School Worcester had won every game in their section but went on to loose by 3 goals to Parkstone Grammar in the Semi Final.

Janet Wrighton, England Netball President commented on the day, “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed today’s event and congratulations to all those who took part. My thanks go out to all those who volunteered today to make sure the event was a success and it was fantastic to see so many talented, young netballers enjoying such a great day – well done to those teams who won!”

The three teams from Central Newcastle High School were collectively awarded the Endeavour Award for their good sportsmanship throughout the competition and Barking Abbey went on to win the award for most goals scored as they finished the day on a total of 129.     

South Results:

Under 14
Beaconsfield High = Joint 7th
Charters = Joint 9th

Under 16
Thorndean = Joint 5th
St Gabriels = Joint 7th

Under 19
Beaconsfield High = Joint 5th
Brokenhurst College = Joint 7th        

 

National Schools Regional Round

On Saturday 30th January 2010 the National Schools Regional Round was held at The Kingsmead Netball Centre in High Wycombe. With the weather being kind to us and staying dry and snow free all day we were able to enjoy an excellent day of good quality netball. Unfortunately for me I got delayed in a traffic accident on the M23 and did not arrive until after the start of the first match, however, the team of volunteers rallied round and ensured that the day started on time and everything was set up by the time I arrived. I owe a special thanks to Chris Granger for being the saviour of the day with her well prepared tournament kit along with her efficient system of running the results all day.

Talent scouts were able to attend the tournament during the day and made several selections which with the aid of the numbers will be able to contact those selected via their schools. It was very interesting to shadow the talent scouts and especially Sue Baldwin who gave me a great insight into exactly what to look for in a potential talented player. Many thanks go to Sue and her team and good luck to the girls who have been selected Sue and her team will no doubt be in contact in due course.

Thanks go to all of the volunteers on the day who manned the gates, ran the timing, manned the registration table, stood for hours in the cold making sure everything was running smoothly and to Chris Hopkins and Phyllis Avery for being the tournament referees for the day, this event could not have run so smoothly if it was not for them.

My final thank you goes to the umpires and the Umpiring TSG who worked hard throughout the day, so much work goes into organising this side of the event and I am grateful for all the help and support they gave me during the lead up to the event.

It was good to see such a great standard of netball being played in our regions schools and I would like to extend congratulations to all the teams for getting this far, however only two teams from each age group can go through to represent the region at the Finals in March and they are:

U14 Winners – Charters School
U14 Runners Up – Beaconsfield High School

U16 Winners – St Gabriels
U16 Runners Up – Thornden School

U19 Winners – Beaconsfield High School
U19 Runners Up – Brockenhurst College

We wish all six teams the best of luck in the finals and hope to see some trophies and medals coming into the region in March especially as we are lucky enough to have the finals being held in our region this year.

Finally many thanks to all the schools who have sent emails thanking the region for the event your comments will be passed on to the Regional Management Board.


Alison Armstrong
Chair of Competitions & Events Technical Support Group
Netball South Regional Management Board