At the Dunedin Netball Prizegiving on Sunday, both Columba staff and students were awarded prizes and recognised for their contribution to this sport. A great achievement for an excellent year with Columba Netball!

Two Columba students received awards for their respective representative teams:

• U16B Best Team Contribution - Georgina Yr 10
• U18A Most Valuable Player - Holly Yr 13

Well done, girls, you've made a phenomenal impact on your teams! A special mention must go to two of our Columba Netball Gurus, who were presented with special acknowledgements!

The Dunedin Netball Centre Contribution to Coaching Cup - Mrs. Piebenga.

Mrs Piebenga coached College A to third in the Dunedin Netball Premier A club competition, ending in an exciting extra-extra time game against Physed A on finals day. Mrs Piebenga coached the successful Columba Senior A team from Premier B at the start of the season to the club Premier A final, and as you have already heard this team won Otago Secondary Schools, South Island Secondary Schools, and came 4th at NZ Secondary Schools. Mrs Piebenga also agreed to be the assistant coach of the Dunedin Open team for Netball NZ nationals with Janine Southby, meaning back-to-back, week-long tournaments with Secondary School the week before in Invercargill. Mrs Piebenga, your continued commitment to netball in our centre is significant, valued and appreciated. Thank you for your time and investment in coaching at Dunedin Netball.

The Colleen Lyons Personality of the Year Trophy - Mrs. Gretchen Beardmore.

Outside of her job description as sports administrator at Columba, you will always see Mrs Beardmore at the courts on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Saturdays checking in on teams, coaches, managers and umpires. Mrs Beardmore has a sunny disposition, she is always smiling, grateful and thankful to everyone that she is involved with. She has a calm demeanour, is thoughtful and clear in all her communications and has the best interests of “her girls” and the whole netball community at heart. Mrs Beardmore has a holistic approach to her involvement, is open and friendly, and genuinely cares about everyone she interacts with. It is with no doubt, that we understand and acknowledge the work and efforts school sports coordinators do to ensure our rangatahi have opportunities to be physically active, but this award is for the work, effort and the way Mrs Beardmore goes about everything she does for netball outside of her coordinator role. Congratulations, Mrs Beardmore, thank you for being you!

Thank you both for all you have done for not only netball but all Sport here at our College.