Hero photograph
 
Photo by Andrea Wall

Netball

Katrina Keenan —

2018 has been a hugely successful year for Hornby High School Netball. We had a large increase in participation numbers, making up four competitive netball teams. These teams played in the Canterbury Secondary Schools Hagley sport competition every Wednesday.

The Diamond team was coached by Mrs Jude Howie and Miss Nicole Eastwick. This team was entered in the Junior C division and was made up of junior Year 9 and 10 players. The Blue team coached by Mr Sam Stokes entered in the C division and had a range of Year 9-11 students. The senior Mixed team coached by Miss Anna Taylor had an outstanding season, winning their grade and having the season goal of enjoyment and participation.

The Gold team coached by Miss Annabelle Simpson consisted of players from Years 9-12. They competed in the B division, and were captained by Lenora Taotua Lavea and co-captained by Georgia Dellaway. This was a new experience for both Year 10 students, but with their knowledge of the game and natural leadership abilities all gold team members benefited from their guidance and encouragement.

During the Term 2 holidays our Year 9 and 10 players competed in the South Island Secondary Schools Netball Tournament running from the 9th-11th of July. This was a fantastic experience for our girls being part of this competitive atmosphere and seeing the high standard of netball being played around the South Island. We hope to sustain this tradition of sending a junior team along to the tournament every year, as we believe providing these opportunities encourages our students to live up to their full athletic potential.

We are excited to see Netball develop at Hornby High School and are looking at a number of new initiatives in 2019.

On the 10th of August, we had a Netball game against a touring team from St Phillips College, in Alice Springs, Australia. This was a great challenge for our athletes as they were a strong, confident side to play against. Hornby High School Blue lost the first game, but our gold team managed a win, beating St Phillips A team 28-26.