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| Netball U8 Team 'Blog' |
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Wednesday 9th March 2011 Netball High 5’s Under 8 A’s Eagle House v Brookham, home Final score: 10 -1 Won
Team: Holly Cookson – Captain, Lucie Donnelly, Claudia Robinson, Hannah McClelland, Tara Vaikunthanathan, Poppy Perry. Brookham Player of the Match: Claudia Robinson Well girls – what can I say? After a dazzling goal in the first minute of the game from Holly, the tone was set for the rest of the match. The girls played so brilliantly together – reading the game well and moving into space effectively, passing deftly and quickly to each other and working so well as a team. I think the key to our success was the pace that we played the game at – taking free passes so quickly that it gave Brookham little chance to get into their best defending positions. In fact, it was the speed of our game that made us miss a few goals and if there were any constructive criticism it would be to compose yourself better and take more time when you shoot sometimes! The final score showed how well you played girls and how cohesively you worked together as a team, not to mention your accuracy shooting. Something to watch out for is not to back off working hard to defend just because you are winning. You mustn’t become lazy – a positive score can change as quickly for the worse if you become complacent. All in all, a really impressive game and you should be very proud of all your performances. Many thanks to the mums and dads who came to support and to Mimi Carling for being an expert time-keeper for us.
Final score: 10-1 Won (Goals scored 1,2,3 Holly Cookson, 4,5,6 Claudia Robinson, 7,8,9,10 Holly Cookson)
Wednesday 9th March 2011 Netball High 5’s Under 8 B’s Eagle House v Brookham, home Final score: 4 -1 Won
Team: Roseanna Fernandes – Captain, Tara Vaikunthanathan, Devashri Moodley, Poorvi Kundu, Jasmine Cunliffe, Madeleine Crouch. Brookham Player of the Match: Devashri Moodley The girls had clearly been concentrating on the sidelines whilst watching the others play, as this was by far one of their best performances that I have umpired to date! The pace was quicker than usual which worked excellently to put them into a strong attacking position and their passing was mostly accurate and well-thought out. The girls worked harmoniously together as a team and seemed to read the game better than normal and really think about where and to whom they wanted to pass, rather than just getting rid of the ball and hoping for the best which can sometimes happen when match nerves prevail. This was saved for shots on goal and I urge you all, whilst this was a great result, to believe in yourselves more and if you are in a goal-shooting position, have a go! You will only get better the more you try and with the confidence that it sometimes goes in, not by passing to someone you believe to be better and potentially losing possession in the process. Well done girls – a really great result and a fine game of netball played. Special mention must go to Tara who due to Mimi being off games, stepped up to the plate and played not only in both matches, but extremely well in both. From my point of view, Most Improved Player goes to Jasmine Cunliffe who played her best game of netball yet and in the process, defended really well and was unlucky a couple of times with her shots on goal hitting the rim. Keep up the good work girls – really great stuff! J Final score: 4-1 Win (Goals scored 1 Poorvi Kundu, 2,3,4 Tara Vaikunthanathan)
Saturday 5th March Under 8 Hi 5 Festival @ Eagle House School U8A Team: Roseanna Fernandes, Claudia Robinson, Mimi Carling, Holly Cookson, Poppy Perry & Hannah McClelland Won 4 Lost 1
U8B Team: Tara Vaikunthananthan, Lucie Donnelly, Poorvi Kundu, Devashri Moodley, Madeleine Crouch & Jasmine Cunliffe Won 2, Drew 1, Lost 2 The girls went into the festival with only one High 5 match under their belts, so they did not have a lot of experience with playing against other schools. Our first match was against our very own eagle house C team, the girls played well but bunched up too much, so that there was no one in a space to receive the pass. Our first goal of the day was scored by Maddie Crouch. At half time the girls all rotated positions so that they could get an all round knowledge of the different positions which High 5 netballl has to offer them. The finall score was 1-1. After a half an hour break our next match was against Marlston House B where the girls were determined to win their first match! The girls spread themselves out a bit more which paid off as the ending score was 2-1, both lovely goals scored by Tara. Our next match was against Hawley Place, unfortunately the girls lost 6-0 due to lack of passing and not marking players. There seemed to be some confusion over who the girls were marking, which was sorted out before our next match against The Abbey. The girls had rotated positions yet again and were adjusting themselves so they could they could play to the best of their abilities. Disappointingly they missed out on a win by one goal. Our final match was against the Oratory the girls won this match 2-0. The girls scoring here were Jasmine and Poorvi. The girls ended their last match on a good note as they successfully went into spaces to receive the ball. The girls showed great team spirit and hard work throughout the morning Thank you very much to the parents who came to cheer them on and braving the cold weather. Well done girls, keep up the good work. Wednesday 16th January 2011 Netball High 5’s Under 8 A’s Eagle House v St Andrew’s, Pangbourne away Final score: 3-1
Team: Tara Vaikunanathan – Captain, Roseanna Fernandes, Claudia Robinson, Hannah McClelland, Holly Cookson, Mimi Carling. St Andrew’s Pangbourne Player of the Match: Claudia Robinson Today’s game was one of those matches that really could have gone either way and sadly for us, it went the wrong way! I think it would be fair to say that we had a slower start than usual, as our normal focus and energy was strangely lacking for some reason and as a result, the opposition had pace and focus over us. Pretty soon-after however, we raised our game markedly and there were moments of great strategy as the girls worked really well together putting themselves into some great positions enabling them to move the ball down the court. Astutely, they recognised the importance of speed in taking the free passes and we also saw lots of strong, accurate passing between the girls. Special mention must go to Mimi Carling for her anticipation of passes and great moving into space and Holly Cookson for her tenacious playing style. Claudia Robinson also played very well and scored a fabulous goal in the last quarter, but it was not enough for us to claw back from the three previously scored by St Andrew’s. It was an unfortunate result girls but never mind – I know the quality of netball you can play and I’m sure that you will come back after half term well-rested and hungry for more netball successes! Final score: 3-1 Lost (Goal scored Claudia Robinson)
Wednesday 12th January 2011 Netball High 5’s Under 8 A’s Eagle House v Eton End away Final score: 3-1
Team: Roseanna Fernandes – Captain, Claudia Robinson, Hannah McClelland, Holly Cookson, Mimi Carling, Tara Vaikunanathan. Eton End Player of the Match: Claudia Robinson The bleak midwinter saw a fantastic game of netball played by the tenacious Under 8 A team today. I would say that the Eagle House and Eton End players were fairly evenly matched and so it was a really exciting game to watch as a result as well as the fast paced, energetic nature of the game. Passing was strong and mostly accurate, anticipation and progression down the court was good and working together to maintain possession of the ball was really impressive. Special mention should go to Mimi Carling who worked really hard alongside Hannah McClelland and Claudia Robinson to keep the ball in our goal scoring third, as well as Holly Cookson who relentlessly fought to keep possession. The only thing we have to be careful of now is contact; such is the spirit amongst the girls! A really good game girls and a healthy result at the end. Very well done to you all! Final score: 3-1 Win (Goals scored by Roseanna, Claudia and Hannah respectively)
Thursday 14th October v Hall Grove Won 3-2 (0-2)(2-2)(2-2)(3-2) Team: Claudia Robinson, Holly Clarkson, Hannah McClelland, Lucie Donnelly, Madeleine Crouch, Poppy Perry and Mimi Carling This second match of the week clearly showed the enormous progress that these girls have made in such a short time. Nearly everyone remembered their position on the court and where they may move. On the whole there was some lovely passing with much stronger throws. Those players who remembered to move into a space often received the ball more frequently. There were some good performances from all the team; Hannah eager for the interception, Claudia quick to move the ball on, Holly great attacking play and strong passes, Mimi moving into space, Poppy and Madeleine much improved footwork and dynamic Lucie, always quick to chase the ball. The goals were scored by Lucie, Claudia and Holly but everyone had some good shots at goal. We must always try to remember the correct technique to help score more goals. Well done everyone and a special thank you to the crowd of Mummies , Daddies and other family members who created a lovely atmosphere to the afternoon’s proceedings. Wednesday 13th October St Andrew's 2 Eagle House 1 We struggled to get going in this game and for a lot of the time we did not concentrate on where we were meant to be and whom we were meant to be marking, but gradually, little by little, we began to keep to our positions and keep on our 'man'. When we are defending, we must keep one eye on the ball and one eye on the person that we are meant to be marking and we must make sure that any passes which are not well directed, we grab, make ours and do not gently hand over. When attacking we need to first and foremost pass to one of our own players. Far too many times we hesitated and ummmmed and ahhhed(?) and then floated a pass into the opposition's arms. Make the decision and pass quickly and flat. Also look wide to use the space - don't just trundle up the middle all together, but look left and right. If you haven't got the ball, then you should be running into space, making sure that your partner can pass the ball that far. The first three quarters were a little disappointing but in the last we seemed to click and twice we moved the ball quickly and accurately up the sides and we deserved our goal just for that! Eight consecutive passes were made, caught and delivered. I know that we now have a long long long half term, but make sure that you practise passing and catching a ball in the garden and then return, remembering how well we played during the last few minutes of this game. That is what you CAN achieve if you want too!
Wednesday 6th October v Yateley Manor Lost 4-2 (1-2)(1-2)(2-2)((2-4) Team: Mimi (Captain), Tara, Holly, Poppy, Madeleine, Roseanna and Lucie What a lovely sunny afternoon for the second game for the Year 3’s. The pre-match practice showed great promise with all the team shooting some lovely goals and so the excitement began. Yateley Manor won the toss and had the first centre pass but Eagle House came out with lots of energy, the ball was intercepted and before we knew it EH had the first goal, accurately shot by Poppy. It was not long before YM came back with a lovely goal of their own bringing the scores even at the end of the first quarter. In the second and third quarters the ball was taken up and down the court with glimpses of the team they will be in the future. There was some great passing, especially from Holly, Mimi was really jumping for the ball and receiving hard throws and Tara had a great eye for the interception. Too often though both teams were like bees around a honey pot and swarmed around the court. Neither teams could get the ball on target but Tara must be praised for moving into the space to ask for the ball. This we have done in practice many times but she remembered to do this in a game, well done. The girls remembered to spread out a little more and we had a few strings of really good passes down the court and into the circle. Unfortunately nerves got the better of the shooters but we did manage to get one more goal with an accurate shot from Madeleine. With only two minutes to go, the score was even but in those last couple of minutes YM put together some quick passes into their shooters and they scored twice more, one just before the final whistle. This was a really entertaining game for our youngest team. It is a slow learning process for this quite technical game but I think they did very well changing positions, timekeeping and keeping the score. I am already looking forward to the next game. Well done everyone and thank you parents for all your support from the sidelines. Wednesday 29th September v Marlston House Won 5-1 (1-0)(1-0)(4-1)(5-1) Team: Tara(Captain) Mimi, Lucie, Claudia, Holly, Hannah and Poorvi Even the long journey along the motorway to our first fixture did not dampen the enthusiasm and excitement of the U8’s first match. This was very much a coaching game as in the heat of the moment, all the players can forget what they are playing and which way to throw the ball, sometimes even which side to throw the ball to! This game was High 5, where a squad of 7 players rotate positions at the end of each quarter, only 5 players on the court at one time. For a first game EH coped remarkably well, controlling the stopwatch and the rotation themselves in an extremely efficient manner. They all had to be reminded during the game as to which area and position was theirs but they all responded admirably. Many schools believe that these young children cannot cope with all the changes in High 5 Netball but EH proved them wrong. The girls settled down into the game and supported each other right from the start. As usual there was plenty of crowding in the centre third but when they realised that the ball came to them more frequently if they found space, the flow of the game improved. EH were better in attack than defence and have to learn to ‘stick like glue’ to their opposition. Marlston House put a good fight and the court play was very evenly matched but Eagle House converted more attempts at goal. Every girl played her part and improved enormously during the game, so a fantastic result all round. Well done girls, lots to learn, especially footwork! Many thanks to all the parents whom came to support. |
