Monday 16 March 2015 March brings the school netball season to a head as the national competitions reach their climax, and The Grammar School at Leeds (GSAL) is once again well represented at these prestigious finals. Last weekend two teams travelled to Whitby High School in Ellesmere Port for the England Netball National Schools Competition. GSAL has won the national competition twice at U16 level, and the 2014 team’s achievements earned the accolade of ‘highly commended’ in the Young Club/Team category at this month’s Leeds Sport Awards. In an U16 tournament of high drama, the defending champions GSAL thought they were going home after the group stages. Having finished level on 32 points with Guildford High School they moved through to the knockout stages thanks to a goal average just 0.05 superior to their rivals, who had been ahead on goal difference. The drama continued with two tight semi-finals, GSAL overcoming Beaconsfield High by 11-8 to face Fallibroome Academy in the final. In a hard-fought final GSAL fell short by 13 goals to 9 and had to settle for the runner-up spot this year. The U14s were also in Ellesmere Port bidding to win GSAL’s first national title in this age group. It was a steep learning curve for the younger team whose tournament ended with a fifth place finish in their group, after three wins, a draw and four losses. This Friday is the turn of the U15 team, who take on Oldham Hulme in the Independent Schools Netball Cup final, where they will be bidding to retain the title won in 2014 by GSAL. This brings to 22 the number of national final appearances by our school teams since competing as The Grammar School at Leeds following the merger seven years ago. General Senior School News
