Tuesday 22 March 2016 Netball players from The Grammar School at Leeds (GSAL) are celebrating a sporting first for their school, winning two titles at the England Netball National Schools Competition The double victory, achieved by the U16 and U19 teams, came just a week after the U19s had claimed another national championship, the Independent Schools Netball Cup, to complete GSAL’s treble of national titles at the end of the season. Just three schools, including GSAL, had a team in all three age groups at the England Netball national schools finals, held at Roedean School in Brighton. The country’s top 18 teams in each age category, U14, U16 and U19, initially played out the group stages in a bid to reach the semi-finals. GSAL’s U16 and U19 teams came through their groups unbeaten with some convincing wins. The U14s, playing in their first national finals, missed out on the semi-final by just one goal. The U16s had a comfortable win against Aylesbury High in the semi-final, to meet Oldham Hulme in the final. In their group match against Oldham they had achieved a remarkable comeback from 8-3 down at half-time to win 12-9, so they knew they faced a tough final. However they held their nerve for a 10-4 win, taking the title and the trophy for the most goals scored in the whole tournament – a huge 116 goals in the group stages alone. GSAL PE teacher Kate Nash coaches the U16 team. She said: “They are tremendously talented individuals who share such a strong work ethic that they make an incredible team. They are a credit to the school and I have loved coaching them for the last few years.” The U19 team came through two close-fought matches in the knockout stages, winning their semi against Fallibroome Academy 12-9 and edging to a 10-9 win against Beaconsfield High in the final. They won the national title and the defence trophy for conceding the lowest number of goals in the tournament. Cath Johnson is head of netball at GSAL. She said: “The girls at the national finals were complimented by a number of umpires and other coaches for their excellent play and positive attitude. Thank you to all staff and pupils – this has been a fantastic end to a great season.” Photos by Adam Scott General Senior School Sixth Form
