During the second season of ACSIS sports, I was lucky enough to be a part of the 14U netball team. Netball is becoming an increasingly popular sport at CIS, and this season we saw quite a few girls signing up to be part of the team. As a result, we were able to form three teams. The teams were a good mix of experienced players as well as people new to netball and wanted to learn a new sport. The benefit from having three teams was clear during training, as players could practise amongst peers at similar levels. Players with experience could continue to improve their skills and girls just starting out could develop these skills.

All the teams had a good season. Team 1 faced several difficult matches playing in division 1, and lost two of the games at the beginning of the season. The semi finals were very challenging for our team and we ended up narrowly losing which put us in the third and fourth play-off. We came into the game feeling optimistic, knowing we would be playing a difficult team. We pulled together and worked hard, which ended with us winning, and coming third in our division. This was a great result for our team as we continue to improve our netball skills.

Team 2 had a mixed season, losing their first games. But with dedicated training they managed to improve, winning a few games to finish in the middle of the leaderboard by the end of the season.

Team 3 showed some great improvement over the season. They are a very young and a new team in the midst of rigorous competition.

Netball would not be such a growing sport at CIS if it weren’t for our coaches. A big thank you to Mr Polkinghorne and Sam Atkinson, and our Manager Anne-Marie MacLean. They always turn up to training to help raise the level of netball and improve our fitness so we can all perform better during matches. They never miss a match, and are always there to help us if we are unsure during a match. I’d also like to thank our student coaches Megan Wright and Samantha Sheriff, who have helped coach the teams during training. Without all these people, netball would not be such a thriving sport at CIS.