U11 ISA Netball at Southend-on-Sea

ISA Regional Netball

This was the first time Copthill have entered the Netball ISA, and we weren't really sure what to expect. Well it's fair to say children, parents and teachers alike were all blow away by the quality of play from some of the teams.

We had a tough start to the tournament. Our defensive players; Eliana Russon, Isobel Brown and Emily Darrell had a lot of work to do. The ball was being played quickly through the passing patterns and with some very able shooters these three girls had to work, work, work and they really did. They were a credit to the team in these first two matches, and throughout the day. These two early 5-0 losses against some strong opposition meant we had to work hard to get the girls back feeling positive and confident. We picked ourselves back up and dusted ourselves off and we were ready to approach the next game as though it was our first.

We then had two very close games, 4-5 and 3-4. We started to compete and put scores on the board  through Bea Selkirk, Emily Anderson and Halle Stone, which really lifted the girls and gave them back their fighting spirit. The centre court players; Gemma O'Flaherty, Ivy Kettlewell, Jess Dean, Evie Holder and Felicity Branton really started to move the ball around well, and were working together to move the ball across the channels to make the transition down the court much easier.

The final game saw the girls take a 4-3 win which was an excellent way to finish a tough day of netball. Well done for superb effort throughout the day girls, it was a pleasure to see you develop and come together as a team across the tournament.

Squad: Emily Anderson, Felicity Branton, Isobel Brown, Emily Darrell, Jess Dean, Evie Holder, Ivy Kettlewell, Gemma O'Flaherty, Eliana Russo, Bea Selkirk and Halle Stone.

Also many thanks to the three parents who travelled the large distance to support the girls, your positive words of encouragement really helped.