Third in state for young netballers

The year 7/8 girls’ team from St Ignatius College in Drysdale have pulled off an impressive feat coming third in the Netball Victoria Schools Championships (NVSC).

The NVSC is one of the largest netball tournaments conducted in Australia and attracts government, Catholic and independent school teams from around the state.

Saint Ignatius College’s Director of Sport Andrew Philp said after finishing first in qualifying on August 2, the girls advanced to the state finals at the State Netball Hockey Centre on August 29.

“The team of 11 consisting of Charli Nicol, Charlotte Murray, Lily Stanesby, Ane Smith, Cate Simpson, Zoe Dixon, Jamison Camilleri, Emily Green, Anna Hewitt, Tylah Foley and Charlotte Middleton came up against major sporting schools from across the state,” Mr Philp said.

“Maribyrnong College, Ballarat Grammar and The Scots School in Albury were amongst them. After playing nine games of consistently strong round robin netball, the girls finished third in the state – narrowly being defeated by the overall state champions from Our Lady of Mercy College by one goal.”

Mr Philp said the result was indicative about how much St Ignatius values their sports program and how hard the coaches are working.

“A result like this shows how hard our coaches work to deliver programs to improve players technical and tactical abilities across a number of areas.

“This is a tremendous achievement from these girls and their coach Madeleine Clifton and netball co-ordinator Stacey Learmonth. The netball coaching program begins in March each year and culminates in this state championship.

“It was a successful week in Saint Ignatius sport because only the day before our Year 7/8 boys Basketball team finished fourth in Basketball Victoria’s elite Champions Cup tournament.

“We have a group of enthusiastic, competitive and talented young students coming through and the future looks very promising.”