Ellesmere College Senior A Netball
The Ellesmere College Senior A team has just returned from another successful trip to the South Island Secondary Schools netball tournament in Invercargill from 28-31 August 2023 at the ILT Stadium and Velodrome.
With the recently selected Senior A Squad of: Caitlin Barnett (Co-Captain), Honor Barnett (Co-Captain), Jeanette Manumanuniliwa, Mareika Geerts, Jaiden Van Der Westhuizen, Alishia King, Kate Inwood, Paige Robertson, Caitlin White and Gemma Johnson travelling down on Sunday 27 August; the squad was keen to make their mark early in the tournament with a 9.00am start on the Monday.
Under the guidance of coaches Deb Johnson and Charlotte Lemon, the girls took the court primed for a good showing against high ranked Gore High School. After a tight tussle Gore came out the winner 27-22 but everyone was super excited about the effort and closeness of the game.
Next up was a local match up against Lincoln High with a strong Lincoln team coming up trumps this time. But this didn’t dampen the spirits and both teams enjoyed local connection with an after match get together by the Ellesmere area’s schools. Then it was out to Oreti Beach for a very windy cool down and chance to explore the rugged landscape of the lower South Island.
Tuesday proved to be another exciting set of match ups in pool play. First up was Trinity Catholic College with a really close match, Trinity winning 27-23. With a tight turnaround it was into the Velodrome for another nail biter against Buller High, EC just missing out 38-35 but a very important bonus point gained. Excellent effort all round.
Wednesday took the team into the second pool play rounds. With two afternoon games the opportunity was taken to do some sightseeing – it’s not every day you travel to the far south and there was much to experience. So it was into the van and car and off on a scenic trip to Bluff to check out the South Island’s southernmost spot at the Bluff Hill Look Out and the Stirling Point sign post.
Amazing views taken in everywhere on a clear calm day. Then it was back to business at the Velodrome and a nice win against Oxford 37-22. This was a crunch game to win meaning that Ellesmere College had met its tournament goal of staying in the tournament B Grade for 2024 and gaining ground on its promotion from the C Grade last year. Onwards and upwards!
Thursday was play off day which ended with another win in a rematch of last year’s C grade final against Queen Charlotte College. The team was definitely up for this match and were keen to make amends for last year.
Doing well to keep in touch for three quarters, EC hit the lead in the last coming away with an excellent win and moving up the B Grade rankings from where it started at the tournament.
Well done everyone on all the effort and a huge thanks for all the support, sponsors, great students and the super star help and expertise of Deb Johnson (Coach), Charlotte Lemon (Assistant Coach), Carey Barnett (Manager), Maree Lemon (Umpire) and Murray Lemon (Bench Official and Staff Representative).
SISS you’ve done it again - amazing experience!