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www.mayburysports.co.uk
U16 Report
By Caroline Hills and Alex Jolly
We left Bluewater and travelled for a gruelling 5 ½ hours
to the annual Pontins tournament at Brean Sands. Our matches
commenced bright and early Saturday morning and our team was
determined to enjoy the weekend's netball and play to their
potential. We had ten matches on Saturday and were in a group
that included our old rivals Oldham and close friends Medway
Panthers. We started well with wins over Medway Jaguars, Natural
Balance, Gotham City and Woodley, with comfortable wins of
15-1, 16-1, 12-3 and 15-1. We then faced Oldham who we had
played and beaten earlier in the year at the Nationals, but
with a team much changed we were doubtful of a win but eager
to play to the best of our ability. With some fantastic interceptions
and turnovers, by half time we were leading by several goals.
At the start of the second half Oldham found their rhythm and
started to make the game more competitive. Both teams were
not prepared to lose the match and the level of skill was very
high. The game ended with a draw and left us feeling slightly
deflated that we had not been able to maintain our lead.
We were determined to regain our composure and with regenerated
energy and spectacular team and individual play, we won our
next few matches convincingly. We then faced our friends and
rivals Medway Panthers, and with both teams playing to the
highest standard the game was tense, both teams not willing
to lose. Panthers fought hard for every ball and with several
impressive interceptions from their centre court players, they
stole the game 8-4. All was not lost and the day ended on a
high with a hard fought game against Lincoln City . Lincoln
were impressive, with good movement and agility from the attack.
However, with both our defence and attack working well together
we were able to break their attacking play and the game ended
with a win of 8-1. We went through to Sunday, second in our
group and looking forward to the competitive matches we would
no doubt be facing.
Saturday night did not start as we had wished as we watched
Andy Murray fall to the challenge presented to him by David
Nalbandian, in five gruelling sets at Wimbledon . The evening
picked up as we celebrated the 15 th Birthday of one of our
teammates, Natasha. We enjoyed cooking and eating our own barbeque.
Then it was down to the disco to enjoy the evening's entertainment,
a live band playing all the classics. We were on a curfew and
headed back to our chalets at 10.30pm for a good nights sleep,
to ensure we were prepared for the matches awaiting us.
We had three matches on Sunday and won our first, a hard fought
match against Wockingham. We then faced Lincoln City who we
had beaten the previous day. Again we were faced with immediate
pressure form their attacking players but unlike the previous
match we were unable to disrupt their flow of play and we lost
the game. Our last match was against Birmingham , who, like
Oldham , we had played and beaten at the National Championships.
However this game was not to go our way. Their shooting was
accurate and centre court impressive. After fighting hard,
we lost the game by several goals. As a result we did not qualify
for the finals.
The quarterfinals saw Eagles win their match and Birmingham
beat Oldham with impressive play. The final between Eagles
and Birmingham was exciting; with a high level of skill from
the Eagles centre court. However, Birmingham played impressively
and with an extremely tall goal shooter, they were able to
convert turnovers into goals. The tournament ended with Birmingham
coming out triumphant over Eagles and taking the U16 title.
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We set off at Bluewater, spending
five and a half hours on the coach. Although there was a slight
storm which shook the coach and hundreds of travellers making
their way up to the Glastonbury festival, the journey was not
an unpleasant one. It was here we decided our aim of the visit,
would it be social or competitive. We chose competitive and were
determined to give 110% into all our matches, despite a large
majority of our team mates playing whilst injured. The tournament
provided us with experience about teamwork and our individual
play, which meant we could improve as the tournament progressed.
Despite our best efforts, due to losing several important matches,
we came bottom in our group leaving us free to enjoy the rest
of the tournament as all competitive pressure had been removed,
needless to say we still played to the best of our ability in
all of our matches.
On arrival, the squad - accept for Alex, Alice, Meg, Vicky and
Bex, who looked at their map - made the half hour journey around
the entire site searching in desperation and darkness, for the
comfort of their chalets. Once we had fallen into our beds, one
room came across another dilemma of having no electricity. As
a consequence Michelle and Caroline spent a desperate hour trudging
around in the pitch black trying to locate the help desk, to
finish off the simple task of cleaning their teeth. Whilst another
room suffered a vibrating freezer which (only with Maurice's
help) seemed to stop shaking after some persuasion!
On Saturday evening the entire team, including coaches, let
their hair down for a night of fun. Games were played, arguments
over the first in line for the shower (Vicky) and songs were
sung, Freddie Mercury style. Then disaster struck, whilst carrying
out the simple task of cooking pizzas, several girls - Vicky,
Sophie and Rachel - decided to attempt to poison the entire team
by cooking them whilst safely enclosed within the comfort of
the plastic wrapping, leaving one member of the squad - Alex
- to sit on her hands and knees from 4am, screaming blue murder,
to scrub the ovens clean of their new, white and melting decorations.
Once this ordeal was over, we got down to the business of eating
the entire contents of the fridges as a celebration of Natasha's
15 th birthday. We played games, "G'day Bruce" (must be said
with an Australian accent), Fuzzy Duck and "Down in the Jungle" causing
enough laughs to last us the entire weekend.
Though the weekend involved tough netball, the biggest challenge
was probably getting our rooms tidy on Sunday afternoon! Although
we always say we are going to be organised there's still that
frantic rush at the end to get everything shoved into the suitcase.
Why does the suitcase always seem smaller on the way home?!
Our weekend was definitely one to be remembered whether it be
the netball, the cooking or 'partying on down' at the (all girls!!!)
disco. So we'd just like to say thank you and well done to everyone
who went on the unforgettable trip. A big thanks to Anita and
we are looking forward to bringing the cup home next year!!!
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