Hurst Netball

2010-2011 Season

This year, Netball at Hurst has enjoyed a fantastic season - U19s and U15s are both SISNA and Sussex Knock Out Cup Champions; the U14s reached the semi-finals at SISNA and the U19s reached the Regional finals of the National Schools Competition.

U19 Squad
Click here to learn more about their 2011 Sussex Independent Schools Netball Association (SISNA) tournament victory
Click here to read and see more about their victory in the 2011 Sussex Knock Out Cup

U15 A team
Click here to learn more about their 2011 Sussex Independent Schools Netball Association (SISNA) tournament victory
Click here to read more about their victory in the 2011 Sussex Knock Out Cup

2009-10 Season Report

Hurst is now proving to be too strong for many of the local teams we traditionally play and we have begun to travel further afield to take on higher quality opposition. We have therefore this season enjoyed new fixtures against Epsom, Sutton Valence and King’s Canterbury and we plan to continue, and further expand, our fixture list next year.

The netball season got under way in the Michaelmas term with narrow defeats for all age-groups at the National Schools competition. The season proper got off to a slow start in the Lent term because of the heavy snow and the girls battled through the training sessions with limited fitness.

Our first block fixture against Cranleigh exceeded expectation: the senior sides all won; the reverse of last year, leaving Hurst buzzing and Cranleigh stunned. All the junior sides put up a good fight and the depth and strength in our C and D squads enabled them to win comfortably.

We then had clean sweeps against local opposition Burgess Hill and St Bede’s, proving Hurst girls have the edge. This was followed by all junior sides beating Ardingly College by considerable margins; a further confirmation of the high standard of play being achieved by the younger girls.. A long bus journey took the girls to Cranbrook for another successful weekend with 12 teams playing, resulting in 10 wins, one draw and just one loss.

We returned after half term with a Thursday fixture against Seaford College and, despite the rain, still managed to get 6 games played. This was followed by a big block fixture against Wellington with 12 teams playing. They proved to be our most competitive opposition yet, with equal wins to losses. This is always a friendly fixture with netball played at the level we are striving for.

Hurst entered 4 teams for the big annual SISNA Tournament at the G4 sports complex in East Grinstead. All teams did far better than we might have dared to dream. The draw for all age-groups was challenging but the girls were focused and determined to succeed. All Hurst sides qualified for the semi-finals; it is, in itself, a significant achievement to have all 4 teams still in the running at the play-off stages. The U14’s beat Burgess Hill School for Girls in the final by 17-6 whilst victory was achieved by the U16’s through a round robin sequence of matches (seven teams competing at this level did not allow for two pools to be created) in which they defeated Ardingly College, Brighton College, Burgess Hill School, Eastbourne College, St Bede’s and St Leonard’s Mayfield.

The U13’s came fourth in their round robin, the U15’s lost in their semi-final 3-5 in a tough match against St Leonard’s Mayfield whilst the U19 squad won through to the final where they were narrowly beaten 10-14 in a tense match against St Bede’s.

The U15’s have had a mixed season this year but they performed superbly as a team and narrowly missed a place in the final, losing by just 2 goals to St Leonard’s, Mayfield who went on to win the U15 age-group.The U14’s, U16’s and 1st squads made it into the finals and all played exciting netball to a breathtaking standard. The U14’s proved to be too strong for Burgess Hill and the U16’s got the better of Eastbourne College.

It was a fantastic achievement for both these teams to win their age-groups.

The U14s are pictured below:

The U16s are pictured below:

The 1st squad battled hard, as always, against a strong St Bede’s side who just got the better of them again. However, the girls felt like winners and could have done no more. It was an amazing day, with the coaches and the girls all supporting each other and enjoying the successes. There were many eyes on Hurst at this competition and we lived up to our reputation. As well as the busy day at G4 we also had 7 teams playing in a block fixture against Epsom, securing 5 out of 7 wins. All in all, it was a great day for Hurst netball.

The Sussex Knock-out Competition (for state and independent schools) has also seen all age groups enjoying some very competitive matches. The 1st VII made it to the semi-final stage where they lost narrowly to Imberhorne by 2 goals. The U14’s and U16’s made the finals, both against Brighton College - the U14’s made a valiant fightback but could not repeat the victory they had enjoyed over Brighton at SISNA just days before and the U16’s played a thrilling match to defeat Brighton and to win the competition for the third consecutive year. It is good to report, too, that the U16B’s and U14B’s both made it through to the quarter final stage in this competition.

As far as school fixtures go, the 1st VII remained undefeated and the 2nd’s, 3rd’s, 4th’s, U16A’s, U16B’s and U14C’s all only lost one game each all season.

Well done to everyone - the team spirit and commitment have been brilliant and the standard of netball quite tremendous, the best we have ever seen at Hurst! Coaches, captains and all squads are delighted.

Thank you to everyone who was involved in what has been a busy but wonderful season.

Rebecca Jutson, Head of Netball