Friday 27 March 2015 The U15 netball team from The Grammar School at Leeds (GSAL) has successfully defended the school’s title in a major national netball championship. The Independent Schools Netball Cup (ISNC) attracts entrants from many of the country’s top sports schools. GSAL has an excellent record in this competition, having now won five titles since the ISNC was founded in 2010/11, including both the U15 and U19 titles in 2014. In this year’s competition, 41 teams from schools across the country initially entered in the U15 category. GSAL progressed through the rounds to reach the ISNC national finals held in Redbridge, Essex, on 20 March. GSAL’s opposition in the final was Oldham Hulme Grammar School, a team which included several players from their U14s who had won the national schools title just a week earlier and were hoping to do the double for their school. Oldham started the match confidently taking a 10-9 lead at the end of the first quarter. However GSAL pulled it back by half-time, going into the break with a 22-18 lead, which they steadily increased to an eight-point advantage after the third quarter. Although Oldham came back strongly in the final quarter, GSAL held their nerve to take the match 46-40 and retain the U15 title for the school. GSAL’s Lexy Shipley, year 10, was named Player of the Match, and received her trophy from Graeme Walker, MD of Smile Group Travel which sponsors the ISNC. Kate Nash, who coaches GSAL’s U15 team, said: “We tried to ease the pressure on the girls by reminding them what they have already achieved as finalists, so they could enjoy the day and make the most of the opportunity. “The girls have been training outside all year in some horrendous conditions; they have just got on with it and have been fantastic representatives of the school. It’s been a pleasure to coach them.” Katy Gannon, year 10, captains the U15 team. She said: “We were ecstatic to win! We knew the opposition was tough – Oldham Hulme beat us as U13s two years ago in this competition so we were determined to take this one. We worked really well as a team and played well on the day in a very tight match.” Photos by Adam Scott General Senior School News
