We won our game!!  We are so excited, but let us tell you about the whole day!

We got up as usual and did a training session in the morning.  Arty was umpiring for the early morning tournament game so we did a general fitness training session followed by some passing and catching practice in the pool!  It was a worrying day today as a couple of the girls are suffering from injuries.  One of the girls in the B team has a dodgy hamstring and she was getting lots of ice treatment throughout the day.  We didnt know whether she would play in the evening game.  One of the girls from the A team is developing shin splints and that is really worrying although it isnt critical yet.  So with lots of treatment from Stacy Watt throughout the day we were on tenderhooks whether they would be able to play.  We only have 15 girls (and 16 with the B team coach!) so injuries put us at a real disadvantage as 7 are needed for a team.

After a late lunch we headed off to the tournament.  We were playing the 2nd and 3rd games of the evening so had chance to watch another match before going on.  The B team were on first against Eagles and we were confident that we had a chance to go for this game.  The A team were on after against Digicel Elite and as their netball was far better than ours Arty decided that this would be a training session for the A team.  There was no chance that we could beat their standard so he also decided to rest his injured player and play without a WA.  Hard work ahead for the A team attack but it would be interesting!

The B team started out well and fought the quarter with solid teamwork and energy.  The quarter score was 6-7 and we knew we could win the game if we just played it our way - calm and controlled.  Its easy to be sucked into playing how an opposition plays and during the second quarter we did that.  We began to force balls and make it hard for ourselves.  Lyn, the B team coach, kept telling us to slow down and calm the game and the quarter ended 12-16.  She told us to play our game with easy passes so we went on to the 3rd quarter with this in mind.  We played our game and pulled back the deficit leaving he 3rd quarter with a score of 21-21.  This was it then, we had to play together like never before and we knew we could win.  For each goal we got, the Eagles scored too. Then we pulled ahead by 2 goals and held it there for most of the quarter.  The Eagles got a couple of interceptions and levelled the score, but then we pulled away again and finally won the game 30-29!  We were so proud of ourselves and the hard work we had put into the game. 

The RN had won its first game of the tournament and it felt brilliant!

The A team played their game against Digicel Elite and as we said earlier, Arty decided to work his team and play them with only 6 players.  By doing this he forced them to work the ball around the circle and play a solid and controlled game.  This was excellent practice for the games ahead.  The Digicel game was never going to be a win so it was much better to conserve players and work on solid passing and movements.  Despite the A team only having 6 players (with no WA), they prevented Digicel scoring 100 - which in our opinion is easily within their grasp.  The final score was 17-91 and although it was a loss the A team came off the court positive and generally pleased with their performance.

It was great for the RN to win a game and it has boosted us all for the rest of the tournament.  We havent celebrated the win yet though as we are up early in the morning; the B team have an 0800 game!  We will let you know how that one goes!  Lots of love to all at home.

 Meet Felix our mascot!!!