On Saturday 8 November the Queenswood U14 netball team competed for the first time in the County rounds of the Schools’ National Netball Competition, held at Stanborough School.

Our first match was against Haileybury. We had a slow start, mainly because the courts were extremely slippery. Despite the conditions, somehow we all managed to stay on our feet but it meant we never really got into our stride. The game frustratingly ended in a draw.

Our next few matches were definitely tough. We were up against schools such as St Albans, Goffs and Chancellors, who fielded strong teams that were clearly used to playing a lot of netball for both school and clubs. Play was fast and we found that once we were down by a few goals it was almost impossible to get back into the matches.

With umpires showing no leniency as we slid our way through the morning, we soon realised that it wasn’t going to be our day. There was some consolation in knowing that we weren’t the only team having a relatively bad day. And we did have some great moments – our defence never gave up and made some amazing interceptions, we had some fast mid court play with accurate balls being quickly launched into the D, and our shooters scored some impressive goals.

As the morning went on and the courts dried out, we definitely started to find our stride, pulling back goals against St Eds and having a resounding win against Habs. And probably our best game was our last – another loss but only because Presdales, yet another team where most girls also play for clubs, managed to pull away right at the end.

So, all in all, it was a tough morning of netball but one that we really enjoyed as a team. We certainly learnt a lot from playing so many games against extremely strong teams, but we also proved that we can compete against schools that have a much longer tradition of netball. With more practice (and maybe a little luck on our side too) we will return to our winning ways. Watch this space!

Team: Marina Baldwin, Charlotte Christodulides, Milly Davies (capt.), Shaka Egbo, Jess Hawes, Tomisin Ibikunle, Lucy Kelly, Gaby Murray-Panyiotou, Annie Rayson, Lara Sikka

Players of the tournament: Shaka Egbo and Tomisin Ibikunle