Last weekend, Friday 20th September to Sunday 22nd September, our U13A and U14A team attended the weekend long GSA Netball tournament in Shropshire. The tournament hosted 50 teams who travelled from all over the country to attend. The weekend consisted of a mixture of Netball matches, team building and adventurous activities such as Lazer Maze and the Zip Line. Pupils were also given the opportunity to meet some Super League Netball players, including Nat Panagary! 

Congratulations to Mati and Amelia for being awarded Player’s Player of the U13 Tournament and to Amelia for Coaches Player.  

For the U14 Tournament, Coaches Player was awarded to Matilda. 

Please see the captain’s tournament reports for their respective year groups:

U13 Tournament Report 

We started the weekend off strong with a high intensity match against Maynard School. All the girls on the team were supporting each other on court as well as off even when mistakes were made. The atmosphere was an unforgettable experience with match play going on wherever we looked, cheers and words of encouragement flew down the court almost catching up with the speed of the ball which soared through the air.  

Three, four, five matches played, and we had got ourselves a winning streak. The pressure was high for our last match against Putney High School. The whistle blew and sprints from all angles began. Jumping high into the air to intercept balls, dodges around our defenders and fantastic shooting lead us to victory. Meaning FHS was going through to the Trophy Round! 

Sunday morning our hearts were pounding out of our chests we knew it was going to be a tough day. The matches started and it took us a while to settle into the game. We struggled to play together in the same way we had the day before. We kept our heads held high throughout the day, reminding ourselves of the success we had had the day before to rebuild our confidence. We all faced many challenges throughout the tournament. However regardless of the result the whole team were winners displaying excellent sportsmanship and commitment throughout the entirety of the weekend! 

By Amelie C and Amelia C

U14 Tournament Report 

On Friday we started the long journey to Shrewsbury to start the exciting weekend. When we arrived, we got settled into our room before doing a Q and A with two amazing netball players. With the spirts high and us all excited for the netball ahead we went to bed.  

Matchday began! We were determined to have a good outcome of the games. We started off strong with a close 10-7 win against JAGS followed by a disheartening loss against Bolton school where the score was 9-16. We were slightly saddened by the loss but went into the next game with heads held high! Unfortunately, we did lose the next match against King Edwards as well, as our passes were lacking intensity and strength. Now, the next match we knew would be a tough one because it was against Putney High A team, but you could say this match was our ‘best loss’!  They challenged us to our limits, but we pushed back, and we could tell they were just a bit surprised. With a taste of slight achievement, we told ourselves to play exactly like that in the future. In fact, our next match against south Hampstead confirmed our right to believe we played well as the score turned out to be 10-5 to us! For our last match against St Teresa’s, it was an even game as both teams were desperate to win their last matches. In the end we forced errors and remained motivated which led to a score of 10-7, which we were all happy about! By the end of the day, we were very tired and in need of some rest!  

Sadly, when we woke up the next day, we were informed of the terrible news that we would not be able to play because of the rain. Even though we were very upset we still managed to make the most of the rainy day. We did an umpiring course to help us learn about the rules and things we may not have known about netball. Following this, some of us went zip lining in the woods which was super fun and a highlight of the trip. Later that day, we got the great news that based on our points we collected on Saturday we came runners up in the cup division which we were cheerful about. We got our medals and cup before starting our journey back to school. What a fun weekend we had, and we all improved massively across the weekend. 

By Matilda G and Nell D