Fifty-four school teams from across the country made their way to Stanborough School in Welwyn Garden City at the weekend with the aim of being crowned 2018/19 National Schools champions! Teams representing three separate age categories – U14s, U16s and U19s – went into battle across 25 rounds before the semi-finalists were confirmed. It has already been a remarkable journey for the schools that have qualified, with the top two sides in each age group from nine regions securing their place at the prestigious national event. The U16 age group was wide open with none of the 2017/18 top four returning this year. We had set a target for our team to come in the top eight schools and they played each match with that in mind, winning the first three in our morning session.
Some tougher opponents faced us after lunch and as we prepared for the final match, we knew we were playing for a fourth place in our section – facing the section winners Parrenthorn, who had not lost a match at this stage. The 14-minute match was a nail-biter, with an injury within the team meaning the line-up was different from all our other matches. Despite this, we lost just 7-11 to the team who eventually went on to the final, where they beat Brighton College 18-4 to become National Schools Champions. We were placed equal 7th nationally which is an amazing achievement! We are already looking forward to next year when this same group of girls move up to Senior U19 Netball.