With Covid firmly on the back foot as regards sporting development, I was delighted to be able to nominate 6 of our U17 pupils (3 Year 11s and 3 Year 13s) to attend the NI Netball Trials on 1st October at the University of Ulster, Jordanstown.
The girls were all asked to attend a morning session 9-12, where they would be assessed by NI Netball officials to see if they would make the ‘cut’ into the afternoon session. Here, they would then be joined by the former players on the U17 squad (who were still eligible) to determine who would go forward for the Development Squad.
The following girls were all nominated:
- Jane Black
- Olivia Beavis
- Anna Wilson
- Anna Cairns
- Eve Balfour
- Emma Fawcett
After a gruelling morning of games, Anna Wilson was selected to continue to the afternoon session. She then undertook a further 5 games before finishing. She then had to wait until the following day to hear if she had been successful or not.
On this occasion, unfortunately, she was not selected. The good news is that each of these girls will be eligible to try for trials again next year – either U17 or U19, (alongside a couple of others who had other sporting commitments on the trials day).
This is an excellent achievement for our girls from Fermanagh – to go head-to-head with girls who have access to a selection of local clubs outside of their school.
Congratulations to each of them.
We now send our good luck with Scarlett Keys and Niamh Johnston (both Year 14) who will be attending the U19 Selection on 29th October at UUJ.