Following the highly successful Netball Festival day for our Year 6 team last week, Columba College entered all five intermediate netball teams in the Year 7 and 8 Netball Festival run by Netball South at the Edgar Centre on Tuesday, 23rd August 2022.

The day was vibrant with colour both on and off the courts as our intermediate netball teams entered in the spirit of competition at the Edgar Centre. This was a great initiative by Netball South to celebrate the end of the regular netball season for young teams in the Otago region; players were buzzing with excitement to participate in the festival and experience the joys of tournament play!

Columba 8A dressed in yellow and green, had a great day on the courts and put in some really strong performances against the top-of-the-table teams from the regular competition. There has been incredible improvement across the season for this team of stars!

Columba 8 Blaze burst on to the courts in a striking ensemble of purple and orange and lead by student coaches, Renee Mosley and Josie Herbert, and had a fun day together. Team spirit, positively and attitude has been a big focus for the Blaze team, and we congratulate you for coming together and working towards your common goal. Well done!

Columba 8 Storm was desperately short of players leading up to the festival day, however, the team's super student coaches rang in the replacements and united the team for a great day of competition. Smiles were aplenty as the 8 Storm team played their hearts out and enjoyed every minute of the day.   

The Columba 7 Lightning team has been growing in confidence across the regular season, and the festival day was a perfect opportunity to showcase the team's growth this year. Due to student coaches, Poppy Henderson and Hannah Coe, being unavailable for the festival, past student, Meg Sycamore, stepped in to coach and assist parent manager, Megan Graamans. What a fantastic day for the Lightning team! It was brilliant to see combinations shining, and skills improving!

The Columba Year 7 Blast team was a colourful collage of companionship as they turned up in hot pink and bright blue. Even student coaches, Olivia Davies and Ellery Taylor, entered into the spirit of the day and donned costumes to highlight team unity. It was a real pleasure to watch this team play, and see what sport can do to ignite friendships and fun. Congratulations, Team Blast!     

What a fabulous day out at the Edgar Centre for all our Columba teams. Thank you to student umpires, Rahwa Steel, Emma Sayer, Zara Turner and Hannah Burnett. Your willing service to Columba College was greatly appreciated! As always, we would like to extend a massive thank you to all the coaches, managers and parent supporters who have enabled our teams to participate in the competition and the festival day this season. The Netball programme at Columba College would not be half of what it is today without your valued input! THANK YOU!