Rep netballers return to the courts at Inverell carnival

Narrabri Netball Association travelled to Inverell on Sunday, March 13, with five keen teams to compete in the first carnival of the 2022 season.

The NNA’s under-12s, 13s, 14s, 15s and 17s teams impressed on the day and represented themselves well.

They all entered the day with fitness on their side after being put through their paces by Jake Packer and Toby Knight from Platform + Co during a six-week fitness block.

Narrabri Netball Association’s 2022 season president Claire Irwin told The Courier the teams were competitive on the day.

“Our 15s and 13s did well, they won most of their games,” she said.

“The under-12s, 14s and 17s teams are coming together nicely. They are earning to play together.

“We had a great day at our first rep carnival for the season.

“There wasn’t really a huge number of clubs, but our regional clubs came along like Tamworth, Moree, Quirindi Armidale and Narrabri.

“It was an early carnival and the next one is in Tamworth in May.

“We’ll be hosting our rep carnival in June on the 19th.”

The under-12s team, which is NNA’s youngest rep team, was very excited to compete in its first carnival.

The side played well on the day in warm conditions and had a great time with newly-qualified coach Ashleigh Dudman. Perseverance in attack and defence saw the under-12s get through some close games.

The NNA’s under-13s team’s start to the 2022 representative season was an impressive one as it played its way to four wins and a draw.

The team included a new defensive end the new girls fitted in well. At the other end, the attackers did not miss a beat, and then as a whole, the team played really well together and displayed great effort.

Conditions were quite hot on the day and the girls adjusted well.

Coach Angie Knox said that she was happy and impressed with her side’s efforts, focus and determination.

She said that side was now looking forward to the next carnival coming up in May in Tamworth.

The under-14s had a cracker of a day in Armidale. New team members felt like old team members and they all had lots of fun.

They also broke in their new head of the squad, coach Rod Kirk, who had lots of fun too.

The side was competitive on the day against older opposition and now looks forward to its next hitout.

The NNA’s under-15s team went through the day undefeated at the Inverell carnival.

The side put itself under pressure in the early games, its coach Kerry Crutcher advised, but impressive defence kept it in each contest until the reliability of its attack kicked in to allow it go on and forge some good wins.

Crutcher said that the team was across all positions on the court, with player versatility giving the team consistent results and some dynamic play.

The association now looks forward to the under-15s team’s improvement with added fitness and more carnival court time.

The NNA’s under-17s team’s start to the 2022 representative season was slightly better than expected, coach Tracey Tomlinson advised.

The association travelled with a very young 17s team, with the majority of the girls never having played together before.

The side also only had one reserve for the day due to a few players being out.

The highlight was giving Quirindi a run for their money, leading them at half-time to go down by four goals in the end.

Tomlinson said that fitness proved to be the NNA team’s biggest hurdle, but there were plenty of positives to take from the day and that the side had a great indication of where it needed to focus its attention before the next carnival at Tamworth in May.

NNA also has an 11s development squad that is currently training, while the 9/10-years development squad will start training next term.

They will both play in carnivals later in the year and will also compete at the National Primary Games in July.

Meanwhile, the association’s 2022 winter women’s season Saturday competition will begin on April 30.

Irwin said that quite a few teams had already registered and that the grading had begun.

Teams can register up until April 18 and any individuals wanting to play have been advised to contact the committee.

Once again, Net Set Go will run for 5-10-year-olds in the mornings. There will also be an 11-13-years comp and the senior sides will be split up into A-grade and B-grade.