News and Updates
Barking Abbey win Under 19 National Schools Final Championships –
Rodean School, Brighton, Saturday 20th March
Rodean School in Brighton witnessed 43 schools, place 54 teams in over 260 games of netball on Saturday 20th March. The annual National Schools Final Championship 2010, hosted by England Netball, saw over 600 young netballers compete in the wind and intermittent rain to win their age groups’ winning trophy.
Throughout the 21 rounds of games which took place through the day, Barking Abbey won all their 8 games, the only team to win every
match they played and achieved 105 goals in total, whilst their section average was 63. The winning school went on to increase their goal tally, beating King Edwards Senior School 13 goals to 6 in the Semi Final. King Edwards Senior School took 3rd place in the Under 19 category.
Barking Abbey won the Under 19 Final by more than double the amount of goals against Hartpury College, the score finishing 11 goals to 4. The London and South East based school had entered the competition as a regional winner and they entered the Semi Final round in
first place in front of Hartpury College. Hartpury College had won all but two games in their section, and beat King Edward VI Lichfield School in the Semi Final, final score 8 – 7. Hartpury College from the South West region finished 2nd place in the Under 19 category whilst King Edward VI Lichfield School from the West Midlands finished 4th.
Tracy Reason, Barking Abbey’s netball coach commented on the day, “I’m so proud of the team. They’ve worked incredibly hard to win the competition and we’re so grateful to everyone who made today possible as well as all of the teams who took part – well done to
everyone!”
Barking Abbey also won the trophy for the highest number of goals scored, finishing the competition having scored a total of 129.
Notes
Barking Abbey School in association with the Netball Academy offers the opportunity for talented netball players from 16-19 to work everyday with Coaches to improve their netball abilities. Academy students are able to choose from the wide range of academic and vocational courses offered by the school and will be expected to perform in the classroom as well as on the netball court. The school aims to create the best environment for aspiring players and that includes helping those students who live outside of the local catchment area. A large number of Academy students stay with Host families during the week so that they can attend the school before returning home on the weekends! For more information contact; reasont@babbey.bardaglea.org.uk or newtona@babbey.bardaglea.org.uk
Netball’s Wow Factor is coming to Liverpool!
International Federation of Netball Association (IFNA) announces Echo Arena Liverpool to host World Netball Series 2010
7th June 2010
This year the Echo Arena Liverpool will host the World Netball Series. IFNA announced the decision today on behalf of the event’s stakeholder group which includes England Netball, Liverpool City Council, Manchester City Council and the North West Development Agency.
The three day competition will commence on Friday 19th November and will conclude on Sunday 21st November with a celebratory Gala Dinner on the Sunday evening. Molly Rhone, President of IFNA commented. “I am delighted to confirm that this year’s World Netball Series will be held at the Echo Arena Liverpool. This event has been fantastic for showcasing the sport of netball and IFNA is looking forward to building on the success of last year’s inaugural event. Spectators will once again be given the opportunity to witness this thrilling Fast Net competition between the top six netball teams in the world.”
The six countries competing in the competition, in IFNA World Ranking order are; Australia, last year’s champions New Zealand, England, Jamaica, Malawi and South Africa. According to the IFNA World Rankings the top teams in the world have shifted slightly with South Africa replacing Samoa. This is the only change to have been made to the top six since last year’s tournament which took place at Manchester’s MEN Arena.
During last October’s three day event, more than 17 thousand spectators attended and an income of over £1.3million was generated. Liverpool City Council is planning to build on last year’s success; Lord Mayor Councillor Mike Storey said of the announcement, “On behalf of Liverpool City Council I’d like to express gratitude to IFNA for choosing Liverpool to host what promises to be a fantastic event. Having recently hosted The Co-operative International Netball Series we’re excited to have Netball return to us here and as 2010 is our Year of Health and Wellbeing we’re also looking forward to working with the event’s stakeholder group to develop the event’s Legacy Initiatives .”
On confirmation that England would host the new competition Manchester launched the initial 2009 event, Liverpool will host 2010 and in the final year for England to host the event, 2011, it will return to Manchester. Since its conception last year the World Netball Series has adopted a legion of fans and the rules of Fast Net, the new format of the game, have been adopted by netball players around the world.
England Netball has taken the lead this year for the commercialisation of the event. Any parties interested in working with England Netball to deliver the commercial objectives of the stakeholder group should contact Joanna Adams, England Netball’s Head of Marketing joanna.adams@englandnetball.co.uk
Tickets for the event go on sale Monday 7th June with 10% discount available for early-bird bookings and 15% discount for England Netball members. To purchase your tickets and for further details visit www.worldnetballseries.com
ENDS
For further details please contact:
Anna Hopkins
England Netball
anna.hopkins@englandnetball.co.uk
Essex Metropolitan Netball Association
