Season over for netballers

Season over for netballers

3 June 2020

DOWN Netball Club has enjoyed a fantastic 2019-2020 season.

Numbers at the club, which is based at the Ballymote Centre in Downpatrick, are at a record high.

Training for Year 10 to senior players took place on Wednesday evenings, while Year 8, Year 9 and primary school players trained on Thursday evenings.

It has been another strong year for the primary school  netballers, who had a great start to the season with many returning players and some new faces taking part.

The players showed great enthusiasm at training each week and were disappointed not to get an opportunity to showcase their skills at the annual netball tournament this year.

A special mention must go to the P7 players who will move up to a new section next year.

The coaches have continued to develop all players in the primary section.

Attendance at training on Thursday nights was excellent, which reflected the determination group of girls at these sessions.

The U-14 girls had an impressive start to their season with a win over the formidable Kingsway. They went on to play Belfast Ladies, Bangor, Holywood and Banbridge, with some very close scorelines.

The girls did amazingly well this season as it was their first time playing in a competitive league.

They played some great netball and showed huge potential as they progress to U-16 level.

This year Down had two U-16 teams entered in the Northern Ireland League.

After an opening tournament in October, the teams went on to play 14 matches before the season was cut short.

There were mixed results with some very close wins and losses, particularly for the U-16 A team, who showed fantastic potential for next year. 

Down also fielded two U-19 teams this season in the new NNI U-19 League.

The A team was also entered for the NNI Shield competition (Ann Curran Pool) and the teams played a total of 20 matches.

The U-19 B team, captained by Megan Cromie and Rebecca Colga, had some excellent league wins this season and several players will step up to the A team next season.

The A team, captained by Sarah Colgan and Orla Mason, had an exceptional season, losing to only one other club in their league matches and reaching the semi-finals of the NNI U-19 Shield before the season was postponed due to Covid-19. 

Down Seniors, captained by Jenna Corrin, welcomed some new players this season and numbers were also supplemented with several U-16 and U-19 players stepping up.

The Seniors played 12 matches in both league and shield and impressively reached the semi-finals of the Mona Baird Plate, again postponed until the start of the new season, whenever that may be.

The Seniors were nominated by Newry, Mourne and Down Council for Senior Sports Team of the Year and coach Natalie Reilly who was nominated for Coach of the Year at the same awards, raising the profile of netball and women’s participation in sport in the area. 

At national level Down Netball Club continue to have success.

Sarah Colgan was selected for the Northern Ireland U21 Long Squad as a GS/GK, Kate Fitzsimmons (WA), Philippa Cleave (GK) and Amelia Burns (GS) were selected for the Northern Ireland U-19 Development Squad and Caroline Kennedy (GK) for the U-17 Development Squad.

Several young players help senior coaches with training and this year congratulations go to Kate Fitzsimmons, Philippa Cleave and Amelia Burns who achieved their Level 1 coaching awards. 

Congratulations also to Kate who also went on to take her first umpiring qualification and is now a Grade C netball umpire. 

Down coaches have also been busy supporting the Back to Netball initiative in Downpatrick and Ballynahinch, which has seen a huge number of players returning to netball socially. The club hope to see this initiative continue. 

Although the netball season is over, players and coaches continue to keep in touch with each other and are being supported with training in preparation for the start of next season.  

With numbers at capacity, Down Netball Club are looking for volunteers to help support existing coaches next season.

If you are looking to get back into netball as a player or volunteer, and can spare one or two evenings a week, please get in contact with Jenny via Down’s FB page or email her at downnetballclub@hotmail.com.