The Senior A Netball team attended the Upper North Island Netball tournament last week in Northcote, Takapuna. After a great build up to the tournament the team were eager to get started and play some good netball. On the first day we played Hoani Waititi to whom we had a big loss. I picked them to make the final and they did just that with convincing wins throughout the week. We went on to play Te Kopuku and this was a close game where the girls displayed some fantastic skills. Unfortunately, we had some injuries in this game which stopped the flow of the team and we went down by 4 goals 33-29. Day 2 started with a win against Wentworth 3635. The afternoon game was against Glenfield. Another tightly contested game, in which some of the players stepped up defensively and got some great turnover ball. The pressure on court was high by the last quarter and this created some errors which led to a close loss 32-28. Day 3 saw us up against Ruawai. This was an exciting game which saw the lead change hands several times. At the final whistle the score was 35-34 to Ruawai. Although we lost, we were showing improvement in our game which good. This was the end of pool play where the grade split into top 16 and bottom 16. We were drawn on points with Ruawai, and on a count back of goals we were placed into the bottom 16. With a new goal in mind, the team set out to be the top of this section. First up was Hamilton Christian School. It was a tough game which we went down to 41-35. It was a game that we felt we could win, and although we lost, spirits were still high and the display of netball on court was really good. Day 4 began with a game against Waiheke. The girls came out really strong and had a good win 42-35. The afternoon game was against Marcellin College and the team went out strong once again to take a convincing win 35-25. We woke to Day 5 with the goal of taking 2 good wins. First up was Birkenhead, and the team played amazingly and won the game 35-18. This set us up for our final game which was against Hamilton Christian School, the team we had lost to on the Wednesday. The girls were determined to make amends and they started strong. The pressure was intense from the opposition, but the players stayed focusedand played
some fantastic netball to win the game convincingly, 44-35. It was a great end to the week with the girls placing 17th in their grade. Overall the players played some great netball and enjoyed their time together. Puaawai Bennett, the teams goal shoot, shot 277 goals while at tournament with an accuracy rate of 90%. This was an amazing effort and earned her our team’s tournament MVP. Her skills did not go unnoticed and she was selected in the Tournament Team. A fantastic result, congratulations Puaawai. I would also like to say a big thank you to Leanne Hammond who travelled with us as our Manager, and all the parents who came along and supported throughout the week. We would also like to thank Terry Hammond and The Lakeland Queen for their sponsorship as well as ASB for the drink bottles.