Last night saw the final activity in the Youth League Netball prior to the season proper starting.

OES fielded the two teams, Panthers and Jewels.

OES Panthers made up of predominantly year 8 girls, and the OES Jewels year 9 girls.

The format for this last meet before the league proper was a versatility competition, which involves players changing their positions regularly on a rotational basis throughout the competition.

The Panthers were undefeated on the night, and went on to win the competition, an amazing achievement considering not just the age disadvantage but also the height, some of the teams having their entire squad some 6 inches taller than the enthusiastic Panthers. The Panthers took full advantage of this playing “around” the taller teams, and some amazing versatility resulted in the ultimate achievement.

The Jewels played consistently and cleverly throughout the tournament, won all their rounds and only were placed in the runners up final on goal difference. They went on to win the runners up final as well, and came in as a strong runner up in the competition, 3rd overall.

Our very own Richard Upshall was there, in full flow, and coaching avidly to help both teams to success, whether they wanted the coaching or not.

A great start to the pre season, best of luck to all involved, here we go.

OES Panthers

OES PANTHERS

OES Jewels

OES JEWELS