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Bo r l a s i a n 2 0 1 3
Sport
Borlase Netball
It’s been another great year for netball at Borlase with the
Senior A1 team getting through to South Finals for only
the second time ever. We did better than we expected
beating 3 out of the 6 teams in our group! The A1 team
also won the league and in doing this beat Wycombe
Abbey, with whom we have always had a keen rivalry.
But we unfortunately couldn’t beat them in the District
Tournament, coming 2
nd
overall.
The A2 team also had a successful year coming 4
th
in
the league, beating teams such as Wye Valley and Pipers
Corner. The A1 and A2 team inevitably had to play each
other for the league and this turned into a very competitive
game with the A1 team scraping the victory by two goals.
During the season, we were lucky enough to have the
opportunity to have a training session with a very tall
England International, Lindsey Keable. She helped us with
our defensive techniques and also gave us tactical advice
in preparation for the South Finals.
Some of the girls went to Malta during October 2012 for
the netball tour and it wouldn’t have been a sports tour
without a start at an ungodly hour and that’s how the
netball tour began. At one in the morning the very sleepy
U16 and U17 netball teams piled onto the coach to the
airport. After a quick tour by our own Maltese expert, Miss
Tabone, we headed out for our first matches. Our spirits
were high, but then bad luck struck! In the same quarter
of each match both the goalshooters fell and sprained
the same ankle pretty badly. So, Olivia and Kate who
coincidentally look like twin sisters had a late night trip
to the hospital and we had two players hobbling around
on crutches. Of course, this didn’t limit our shopping
excursions! We also went on all day boat trip, stopping for
lunch at a popular swimming spot. An evening highlight
has to be our coach Julie being serenaded to the tune of
Purple Rain at a local karaoake bar. All in all, a brilliant trip
to a beautiful country marred only by two unforutante
injuries. But, this didn’t dampen our creative spirits and so
the Malta Tour song began. Oh and the netball: well we
got thrashed by the very impressive local teams but there’s
always next time...
A1 team: Charlie Witherington, Maddie Russell, Georgie
Haynes, Isobel Phillips, Issy Heaven, Jess Russell, Laura
Gatcombe, Freya Russell, Hannah Martin and Emma
Towers.
A2 team: Anna Smart, Ella Casale, Kate Dicker, Alice
Blackler, Heather Stewart, Riya Suleiman, Noa Meshoulam,
Emily Carr and Emily Swales. With appearances from Ellie
Jackson and Phoebe Mansfield.
Laura Gatcombe
