Dedicated team of netballers lead resurgence after reaching state final

MURWILLUMBAH Netball Association has celebrated its return to representative competition with its under-18 girls team finishing runner-up at the Queensland state titles.

The girls played in the final at Townsville and were the first team from the local association to play in a state championship since 2013.

It is a large scale event with 183 teams from 53 associations contesting 1614 matches across the four days of competition.

The Murwillumbah team took in players from across the Far North Coast and were coached by Steve Borger and his daughter Lani with assistance from Sacha Kemp and Olivia Stevenson.

“The players, coaches and the parents play a big part in this team,” Steve Borger said.

“I think we had a touring group of about 35 people, and we were very proud of how the girls played.

“This group are dedicated and committed to each other, hopefully the result will give the association a bit of a boost moving forward, too.”

 

Flights and accommodation meant the team had to launch a long fundraising effort to get them to the tournament.

They also went straight back into the top division with 15 teams and only the unbeaten Redcliffe team standing between them and silverware.

Murwillumbah Netball Association president Hayes McIntosh said the team’s journey to the competition was just as impressive as their performance on court.

“As an association, it didn’t matter how they finished, just getting there was huge,” McIntosh said.

“They did raffles, found sponsors, and covered most of their own costs, while the grit they showed on the court was really impressive.

“The amount of work and effort the girls put in as a group was amazing. They were up against tough competition, but they never backed down.”