The Christchurch Girls’ High School / Te Kura o Hine Waiora Senior A netball team flew up north to Auckland last week (2 – 6 October) to compete in the New Zealand Secondary Schools Netball Nationals.

The team started off strongly, winning their first game against Queen Margaret College 40-28, and then carrying the intensity into the first quarter against St Mary’s College.  At quartertime, the team were only down 7-9, although St Mary’s unfortunately pulled away from there which resulted in a 22-42 loss.

The team had another tough game against Hamilton Girls’, despite having lost 25-32 and missing placing in the top eight, our girls did not let the extreme physicality affect the way they played as a team.  One of the main highlights of the tournament followed. This was taking another win over St Andrew’s College; our girls coherently scored nine points over them - ending the game 38-29. From the start, every individual on the court and on the bench did their job, as well as work for each other and they did not get affected by the constant change of the St Andrew’s College lineup during every quarter.

Our players carried their winning streak all through the third day, where they won over Napier Girls’ High School and Villa Maria, 38-30 in both games. The win against Villa Maria meant that our team would be playing off against Tawa College for ninth place - this is an amazing achievement as this is only the second time in twenty years that our Girls’ High Senior A team had placed in the top ten at Nationals.The final game was a perfect send-off for our four Year 13’s. A very close game that was tied at full time. This meant playing two three-minute halves of overtime and eventually taking the win 45-42! 

Our defence were reading the play and picking up ball, both shooters shot 100%,and the bench was as loud as ever! It was a tremendous team effort, and we could not be prouder! Nationals was a fantastic experience both on and off the courts.

 A big thank you to coach Nic Mackle for a great year of netball for the Christchurch Girls’ High School / Te Kura o Hine Waiora Senior A Netball team.