Wardle Academy netball successes

Wardle Academy netball squad

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Wardle Academy set off on their annual trip to Borreatton Park for the England Netball PGL Tournament on Friday 17 March.

Taking four teams and dressed in their new ‘tour’ kit, the girls were ready for a full weekend of netball and determined to bring home as many medals as possible.

After arriving on the Friday afternoon and settling into the rooms for the weekend, the teams were given some free time, enabling them to prepare for the up-coming competition.

Saturday was an early start with year 7 taking to the court at 8:25am. The girls were clearly ready for the challenge, kicking off with a 9-4 victory. The fixtures came thick and fast; some students playing back-to-back matches for the majority of the morning session. At the break for lunch, the year 7 and 9 teams were unbeaten.

At the end of Saturday, the teams had played a total of 13 matches; only losing one. The un-defeated Year 9 team were through to the finals and years 7 and 8 were going through in first and second place. When they weren’t playing matches, the girls had the option of taking part in the many adventure activities on offer but many took this time to stay on court and cheer on our other teams.

By lunchtime on Sunday, the school had secured semi-final spots for all of their teams.
Year 9 were in a tough draw, having to beat a year 11 team in order to progress to the finals. Year 8 and 7 both also had tough draws. Winning all of the semi-finals, Wardle had secured year 7, 8 & 9 finals spots. The year 9 team even managed to beat the year 11 team with a fantastic result of 12-3.

The teams played some fantastic netball; leading by example and adapting their play to overcome what was a very tall opposition.

With the courts and a tense atmosphere, the year 8s and 9s began their games. Wardle year 8 took a 5-0 lead early on; going into the half time talk with a 7-3 lead. The game ended 13-7 and resulted in Wardle Academy Year 8s taking the title for the second consecutive year.

At half time, the year 9 game was close with a 7-4 score line, their defence really took charge of the second half and turned the ball over numerous times, year 9 managed to increase their lead and take control of the game. The final score of 16-8 meant Wardle Academy Year 9s had won the title for the third consecutive year.

Miss Shepherd said: “Some amazing netball was displayed throughout the weekend and we are proud of the way the girls listened to advice and adapted their play to succeed. It was also great to see our girls operating as a full squad, encouraging one another and organising warm ups and mini training sessions.

"They conducted themselves perfectly on and off the court and to hear other schools talking about not only our level of netball but also the manner in which our girls behaved was brilliant.”