Berkhamsted, Putney High and Hartpury College crowned champions

The National Schools Finals in association with the British Army were held on 16-17 March at Oundle School in Northamptonshire, with 54 teams from 44 schools competing.

PHOTO BY MORGAN HARLOW

The National Schools Competition crowns the top schools in the U14, U16 and U19 age divisions, and Finals Weekend was the culmination of the competition that around 1,500 schools took part in over the course of the year. This year for the first time, the weekend’s games were streamed on englandnetball.tv for a small fee.

The competition began with the County Rounds, from which the top schools advanced to the Regional Schools Finals. From there, the top two sides in the three age categories from each region qualified for the National Finals weekend.

Along with crowning the National Schools champions, the newly named Pam Telford Endeavour Award was also awarded, named after the recently retired Lead Competition Referee for the National Schools Finals, with the award presented to the individual or team in each age division who displays sportsmanship and respect throughout the tournament. Congratulations to Whitburn C of E Academy (U14), Hertfordshire & Essex High School (U16) and Durham Johnston Comprehensive School (U19).

The British Army, who are the principal partners of the event presented medals and prizes to the winners of each age group while also engaging with players throughout the weekend, sharing information about the important work they do in the community and providing fun challenges for players to get involved with between matches.

In line with England Netball’s NETBALLHer initiative that supports women and girls to thrive on and beyond the court, Court Short boxes were available for all attendees to use.

Physique Management, who are the Official Physiotherapy Partner of the event, Gilbert and DYNAMIK Sports Flooring all provided free products for competing schools, with Physique Management providing every school attending with an England Netball-approved first aid bag full of everything they needed over the weekend in addition to goodie bags for the winning schools.

UNDER 14s

After lifting the trophy in 2023, Putney High were back to attempt to defend their title and finished the round-robin stage as the only unbeaten team. They were joined in the semi-finals by Berkhamsted on goal average. King’s School Macclesfield enjoyed a near-perfect run to the semi-finals as they topped the other group, with Yarm School joining them.

There was hardly anything to separate the teams in the semi-finals with both games being decided by a single goal, Putney High beating Yarm 12-11 and Berkhamsted finishing 13-12 winners over King’s Macclesfield after extra time.

Berkhamsted, who didn’t qualify for last year’s U14 Finals, seized their chance and recorded an 8-3 victory over Putney High to take the trophy, with Yarm proving too strong for King’s Macclesfield with an 18-8 triumph.

Emma Beeby from Berkhamsted was named Gilbert Netball U14 Player of the Tournament.

UNDER 16s

Withington and Solihull School topped their respective sections after both winning all their opening stage fixtures. They were joined in the semi-finals by the Hertfordshire & Essex High School with five wins and three defeats, and Putney High, who had six victories and two losses.

The semi-finalists gave their all in a bid to make the showpiece final. Withington secured a 9-7 win against Hertfordshire & Essex High, while Putney High downed Solihull 10-8.

There was no stopping Putney in the final as they beat Withington 14-8 to get their hands on the silverware. Solihull School ended their competition on a high, winning 12-9 to take bronze.

Timi Adawale from Putney High scooped the Gilbert Netball U16 Player of the Tournament accolade.

UNDER 19s

Last year’s runners-up Hartpury College laid down a marker of intent, winning seven and drawing one of their round-robin matches. They made it to a semi-final against Wellington College who finished as runners-up in the other group with six wins, a draw and a loss.

The table-toppers in Wellington’s group were Sir John Deanes, who won six and drew two to set up a semi-final crunch clash with the other group’s runners-up Stowe, who had recorded six wins, one draw and one defeat.

The semi-finals were hotly contested, Stowe edging out Sir John Deanes by a single goal (9-8) while Hartpury ran out 16-10 winners over Wellington to set up an all-south final, in which Hartpury showed their quality in a 10-3 win to get their hands on the trophy. Meanwhile, Sir John Deanes fell to a one-goal defeat with Wellington snatching third after an 11-10 victory.

Hartpury College’s Caitlin Brand was awarded the Gilbert Netball U19 Player of the Tournament accolade.