On Saturday 12th March, the U19 squad travelled down to Peterborough for the National School Finals 2022, it was a great weekend with some amazing Netball matches played.

Read the full Finals roundup written by Head of Netball, and U19’s coach, Miss Thompson below.

“In the lead up to the Finals weekend, the players displayed even more commitment than usual stepping up to the challenge of having training fixtures against Leeds Rhinos and other tough opposition.

With thanks to Dentex, Farsley Dental Practice and The Leeds Deli who sponsored us, the girls were all kitted out in their new National’s dresses, coats and rucksacks and were ready to go.

The day consisted of 8 matches within the group, with the top 2 from the two groups gaining a spot in the semi-finals. Our day started with an 8-8 draw against Wickersley, who later went on the go through to the semi-finals as group winners. The next 5 games had a similar theme, we allowed teams to turn us over in the first few minutes which meant we left ourselves with a hard task for the 2nd half. With some outstanding defensive pressure and lots of support coming from the Grove parents that came to support, we were able to get ourselves back into the games and take the win.

With 5 wins and 1 draw, we were still within contention for a spot in the semi-finals. Our penultimate match against Cardinal Newman was another nail bitter going down the final whistle, unfortunately, we experienced our first loss of the day, 11-12. A quick turnaround was needed for our final match of the day against Exeter College. Coming off the back of such an intense match beforehand the girls found it hard to get into the groove and Exeter were clinical in attacking making very few errors. The final score was 8-16. With all scores accounted we finished the day in 5/6th position.

To see the progress this U19 squad has made over the last 8 months has been brilliant. The unity and team ethos on display not just throughout the weekend but every single training session and fixture has played a huge part in the success of this side.” – Miss Thompson, Head of Netball.

Well done again to all the girls who took part, the coaches and parents who came along to support. It was an amazing day and the whole school community is so proud of the U19 squads’ performance.