Condover Hall Netball Trip

Twenty two Year 7 and Year 8 girls made the trip down to Condover Hall, Shropshire, to compete in a tournament against other schools and clubs.  The girls were split into 3 teams and asked to give themselves a team name.  From this activity, the ‘Bunk Beds’, ‘Cheeky Nandos’ and ‘Crispy Bacon’ transpired, much to the girls’ amusement.  After a few activities in the evening, the girls settled down for an early bed time in order to be well prepared for the next morning.

The first team to take to the court was the Bunk Beds, at 8.30am!!, closely followed by Cheeky Nandos. Both teams did fantastically well in their very highly competitive group matches. Standout performances from the morning were noted as Amelia Wells and Sophie Walker in the Bunk Beds and Holly Clark-Pratt and Tallulah Wood from the Cheeky Nandos. Whilst these two teams were battling it out on court the Crispy Bacons were taking part in the activities which were available over the weekend. High ropes courses and the zip wire seemed to be the talk of the town from the girls as they ran between the activities and to support the other girls on court.

After a quick pit stop for lunch, it was time for the Crispy Bacons to take to the court. Due to a lack of defenders a few girls found themselves donning the GK and GD bib which Issy Illsley-Ridge took to with ease. The girls had a tough group with some very strong club teams in the mix, however this did not stop them from playing the best netball possible. During the afternoon rounds, our Bunk Beds and Cheeky Nandos got to have a go on the high ropes course as we watched many of the girls attempt the ‘leap of faith’ as well as the netball.

After a long day of netball all 3 teams got through to the plate competition which would take place on Sunday morning. On Saturday evening, the girls got to go to a silent disco which Sophie Shields enjoyed in particular as she announced to staff when she got back that she, “never stopped dancing!”. Another early night as even the girls admitted how tired they were after a full schedule of netball.

Sunday morning saw the start of the plate competition and must win matches for all teams. The Bunk Beds got off to a great start winning their first match and faced our very own Crispy Bacons. After some feisty competition between the two it was the Bunk Beds that came out on top and went on to win the remainder of their games. In the other group Cheeky Nandos drew their first match meaning they had to win their next match by 8-0 or more to be in with a chance at the final. With seconds to go the girls just missed out only winning 7-0 however, Miss Collins was very impressed with how all of the girls played.  With the Bunk Beds through to the final we had the remaining 15 girls on the side of the court cheering them on. It was a close game but after some fantastic shooting from Sophie Walker and great interceptions by Eleni Malhan the Bunk Beds came through strong to win the U13 plate competition.

It was a fantastic weekend for all the girls, who represented Ratcliffe with pride, and the staff and the girls were a credit to the school.

Mrs Taylor, Miss Stafford and Miss Collins