Mrs A Sharp – PE Teacher

And breathe! The netball season has finally come to an end with over 90 fixtures having taken place since September and over 120 pupils participating. Whether these matches were competitive in local leagues, local tournaments, festivals, county tournaments and cup competitions or friendlies with local schools, the pupils always showed great teamwork and resilience whilst developing new friendships.

Some highlights from the year:

The Prep A team won the AJIS Bowl Competition, winning all 5 matches and only conceding 1 goal! We had 2 teams enter the Manchester Inspire competition, both of whom won 4 matches and lost just 1. The A team took part in the Manchester Excel competition; although we had a tough group we didn’t stop working all afternoon, and finished 5th out of 10 schools.

The Under 12s A had a great start to the season winning the Greater Manchester Netball Festival, which helped the team to gel for the rest of the season. In the Manchester league they finished 2nd behind Withington, which saw them qualify for the Quarter Final against St Matthew’s, which they went onto win 43-0. In the Semi Final they played against Wright Robinson and won 18-2; this allowed us to try different things in preparation for the final against Withington. The game was very close throughout but the girls dug deep and came out victorious winning 13-10 to be crowned Manchester Under 12’s Champions. The girls then played in the Manchester knockout qualifying tournament in March, which saw them win 4 out of 4 games to qualify for the Finals which took place at Wright Robinson outside. The girls were victorious against Wright Robinson, but the final swung in Withington’s favour this time and we finished Runners Up. Wehave had a great season , with two gold medals and a silver. The Under 12s B team also had an excellent start to the Manchester league, winning their first 4 matches; however, the last two games saw them just get pipped to the post. They still qualified for the league Quarter Final and played against Parrswood A team, fighting hard right until the end, but eventually conceding 6-8. The Under 12s C had some friendlies across the season which allowed them all to represent the College; they were unbeaten which stands them in good stead for entry into the league next academic year. It has been great to see 30 girls taking part across the teams this year.

The Under 13s picked up where they finished last season with over 30 girls playing across the 3 teams. The Under 13s A team had a great start,  coming Runners Up in the Greater Manchester Netball Festival. This year they were entered into the Sisters ‘n’ Sport Plate Competition, in which they performed  really well, eventually getting knocked out in the third round by the final winners, Cheadle Hulme. They dominated in the tier 1 Manchester League winning every game and finished eventual Winners.  They qualified for the Manchester Knockout Cup Finals which saw them play Parrs Wood in the Semi Final, winning 17-11.  They then played Wright Robsinon in a repeat of last year’s final; in the first half they really struggled to string passes together to create opportunities, but going into the second half the girls really dug deep and although won that half 8-1. Unfortunately it was not enough to secure the win, and they sadly lost 10-11. They have had another excellent season, winning 1 gold and 2 silver medals. The Under 13’s B team finished runners up in the tier 2 Manchester League by 1 point, having had 2 matches that were close and could have gone either way.  They qualified for the Manchester Knockout Plate Finals, and played The Barlow in the Semi Finals, which saw them play some of their best netball this season, and they took the win 8-4. In the Final against Manchester High, it was close; we were up by 2 goals with about two minutes to go, and just lacked some composure and concentration to see the game out. The girls were disappointed that they couldn’t hold on, eventually losing 5-6. However, it was another great season for them with two silver medals won. The Under 13’s C team finished runners up in the tier 3 Manchester League, winning 6 out of their 8 games, and they should be really proud of themselves.

The Under 14s A team finished 3rd in the Manchester League tier 1, and the Under 14’s B team finished 3rd in the Manchester League tier 3. The A team qualified for the Manchester Knockout Cup Finals, playing Wright Robinson A in the Semi Final. This was a hard match, where we tried different options in each quarter, but it wasn’t to be. The girls came out fighting in the 3rd/4th play-off match against Wright Robinson B, getting off to a great start and managed to keep the lead throughout the game, sealing an 11-7 win to gain the bronze medal.

The Under 15s A team finished 4th in the Manchester League tier 1 and the Under 15s B team finished 5th in the Manchester League tier 2.  The A team qualified for the Manchester Knockout Cup Finals and as usual we had Wright Robinson in the SF; the girls gave it their all but the result didn’t match their effort. In the 3rd/4th play off match, they played Co-op Belle Vue, this was the last time the girls would play in this competition so they fought hard from the start to get their hands on the bronze medal, winning 22-6.

The Under 16s entered the Sisters ‘n’ Sport Trophy one last time, winning their opening round match against Wellington 44-20. The second round saw them come up against Sale Grammar School again; they knew this would be a tough match as they had played them the year before, it wasn’t their best game but they came away with the win 24-20.  For our 3rd round match we were given a bye as the team dropped out, so in the Quarter Final we came up against a school from Newcastle called Thorp Academy, with us being the home side we had the upper hand, the game was tied up until half time, the girls knew the had to pull out all the stops if they wanted to make the finals again, with some outstanding performances the girls dominated the second half and came away with a 38-26 win. With the team elated, we headed to the Finals in March at Loughborough University. Our Semi Final was against Ashlyn’s School, but we didn’t come out firing and were down by 7 after the first quarter. The second quarter saw us show glimpses of what we could do, but we were still trailing at halftime. The second half was very different; with some tactical changes and a good team talk, we showed more resilience and fight. We got to within 1 goal, but just couldn’t hold on, finishing the game on the wrong side of 23-26. The girls regrouped for the 3rd/4th play off match as they didn’t want to go home without a medal. Against Congleton High School, the girls were on it from the first whistle and didn’t look back, winning convincingly 26-10 to take the bronze medal. Of all the students taking part in the finals, L5 Sophie C was awarded the fantastic accolade of Player of the Tournament and a nice trophy to go alongside it.

Well done to the following pupils who gained the most player of the matches across the season:
Under 12s A – Evelyn M
Under 12s B – Aoife B
Under 12s C – Josie O and Maddie P
Under 13s A – Enya M
Under 13s B – Rose H
Under 13s C – Cyrena J
Under 14s A – Izzy P
Under 14s B – Rae M
Under 15s A – Sophie C
Under 15s B – Kimberley K
Under 16s – Sophie C

A special mention goes to Elsie H, Gray C, Sophie C, Rosie H, Enya M and Holly H for umpiring and assisting at the various tournaments throughout the year.

Joining a netball club outside of school is the best way to improve your skills. If your daughter is interested in joining a club and requires more information, please contact me.

Thank you to all the girls who have taken part this season.

Miss Sharp