U16 Netball National Finals - Full Report

Congratulations to our U16 Netball team who started competing in the National Schools Netball Competition in November last year, where they progressed quickly from South Devon Area Champions to Devon County Champions. In January they secured their place as South-West of England representatives at the National Schools Netball Final held at Oundle School, nr Peterborough, on the 12th of March 2022.

The team set out their stall winning the first 3 games convincingly. (18-7 against Oakham, 15-12 against The Perse School and 14-8 against Whitburn C. of E. Academy).

Lily Rutland was on ‘top form’ as GA, working tirelessly to always position herself in the best place to shoot and repeatedly scored. In addition, Lily has the most amazing ability to read the game and intercept a ball being thrown some distance away from her position.

Izzy Baker, having played all other rounds as an exceptional goal defence preventing many attempts at goal, displayed incredible versatility by switching to GS for this final tournament. She consistently evaded the goalkeeper to be able to receive some difficult passes (sometimes with just one hand) and then accurately shot at goal time and time again.

Faye Kinsella also switched positions and was equally impressive as WA. She was a constant supplier of extremely accurate passes to the shooters and whenever the play turned, she would quickly assume a defensive role and make it difficult for the opposition to keep possession.

Evie Lewis as C worked hard in attack to feed the ball from the centre pass to the shooters. She had to cover the whole court and always made herself available to receive the ball when needed and was able to combine her defensive and attacking skills effectively.

Amber Dennison, their ever-positive team captain, worked extremely hard as WD to prevent the opposition from executing successful centre passes. She led by example with her commitment to always marking her player very well and keeping resilient despite some tough opposition.

This was essential in the toughest 2 games of the day which were against, firstly, last year’s winners, Putney High School, where we lost 18 – 8, followed by Wellington College, which they lost 15 – 11. The whole team had to ‘dig deep’ to bounce back ready to play their last 3 games.

Sienna Mitchell showed her excellent range of defensive skills by effectively playing both WD and GK throughout the tournament. She proved herself to be equally capable in either position.

The team won game 6 against The Kings School (Macclesfield) 15 -13.

Molly Gibbs stepped into the team just a few weeks ago and fitted in perfectly. She was tower of strength as GD, and she displayed a phenomenal ability to intercept the ball preventing a great number of goals.

Issy Mills was also instrumental in preventing the opposition from scoring by marking diligently and ensuring the GS’s efforts were hampered. Her unwavering commitment to winning the ball included many jumps to prevent the high pass being received, which unfortunately resulted in Issy landing awkwardly in game 7 and being unable to continue. The team did, however, win this game against Kings High School, Warwick, 14-10.

Game 8 did not start well, with the team gaining some great interceptions and then very quickly losing them. At half time they were drawing 4 – 4, and in what can only be described as a miraculous second-half transformation, they returned to their usual highly skilled, highly capable game play. They only allowed the opposition to score 4 more goals, whilst they easily scored another 11. Winning convincingly 15-8.

The final results was that our TGGS team placed 5^th in the whole of England and, in addition to this outstanding achievement, they are also the top U16 State School Netball Team in the country.

My thanks, must go to our wonderful PE department, Mrs Greaves & Miss McIlwrath, for giving up their time, working hard, and helping the team and myself over the weekend. In addition, thank you so much to all the parents who travelled up and supported the team and helped us. This really is very much appreciated. Your daughters are a real credit to you.

Finally, well done to all the players. You have faced every tournament with good humour and determination, coupled with your exceptional ability, you have proved yourself to be a force to be reckoned with. I am honoured to have had the opportunity to witness this 4 month journey and am, as always, very proud of you - you should be extremely proud of yourself. Very well done all of you.

Ms Oyo