Wellington Senior Girls As and Bs Netball at ACAMIS

Wellington A Team: Our first game against the Australian International School from Hong Kong (AISHK) was, by far, the toughest game for our team this year, which we unfortunately lost 31-8. However, despite the score line we were extremely proud of the way we all fought determinedly right to the end of the match and showed the highest standard of netball played this season. The next game against BISS PX was very close and despite having beaten them earlier in the season we narrowly lost 13-10. The following matchup against NAIS began with a rocky start, with no team appearing to have an edge over the other. The lead bounced back and forth between the two teams but eventually our training paid off and we won the game 23-10. As the next day of netball began, we were still excited from the previous day’s win. Although it was difficult at times, we found our reserves and won all three of our games against NLC Jeju (22-8), NAIS B team (22-5) and WCIS B team (19-10). We placed first in the plate competition thanks in large part to our training and the efforts of our wonderful coaches. Chloe and Coco worked superbly well as shooters, and were both incredible underneath the net. Francesca, Emmie and Olivia were absolute beasts in defence too, dominating the opposition whenever they tried to score. In centre court, Isabella, Amber and Breanna showed huge levels of determination. Ultimately, we all helped each other carry ourselves across the winning line as a team. Anya (year 12)   Wellington B Team: Even after a season with no wins, we didn’t give up hope upon entering the ACAMIS competition. Luckily, we were able to take both Zehra and Alba, who gave us all an extra boast of confidence, which was greatly needed to help us work better as a team. Our first two games were against Hong Kong International School and NAIS A Team. Since they were played back-to-back, we were all tired by the second match but, despite the fatigue, we played our hardest until the final buzzer sounded.  Unfortunately, we lost both games 27-7 and 48-3 respectively but the scores did not reflect our efforts as we fought hard to contest both matches throughout. Happily, our determination paid off, as our final game against NLC Jeju on Friday resulted in our first win of the season at 11-0! This was a great achievement for the team, since we had worked very hard to coordinate both our attack and defence, so the whole game ran perfectly. On the Saturday we were playing for the plate. Our first game of the day was against NAIS B, who we had played the weekend before and during the previous season, when we had lost by over 20 goals. This time around, however, we were winning right up until the last quarter when they fought back and ended up narrowly beating us by 11-9. The difference in results just goes to show how much our defence from Matilda and Klara has improved throughout the season. The second game on Saturday was against NLCS Jeju who were in fine form. This time around, they put up a hard fight with a relentless mid-court possession game combined with a strong defence centered around their very tall goalkeeper. Despite this, Ruby and Alba were able to break through and score 11 goals, putting the score at 11-9. Our very last game was against the Wellington College A team. After both teams played their hardest, the final score was 19-10 to the A team. In the end, we came third in the plate competition and ended up walking away with a medal each and a team trophy. Over the U19s season we have grown so much as individual players and as a team and I hope we keep this level of play up for future tournaments. We want to give a huge thank you to Mrs Hugo, Mrs Haley and Miss Hawkins for giving up their Saturdays, CCA slots, lunch times and their time after school to help coach our sessions and broaden our understanding of the sport itself. As a team, we have really enjoyed the challenge of playing games against skilled teams who have much greater experience than us. We hope to continue this high standard of netball for the Christmas staff vs. pupils netball game and for any future netball tournaments. Lucy (year 12)