Prior to the Netball SA Country Championships June weekend, NENA A Grade, 17U, 15U, 13U played in an inter association trial match at Crystal Brook on Sunda,y June 1, against Northern Areas, Adelaide Plains and Yorke Peninsula.

This was a great opportunity for coaches to try their charges in various positions and combinations.

The majority of players made their way to Adelaide Shores Holiday Village the following Friday night to prepare for three days of netball at ETSA Park.

The new convenor of the Netball SA Country Championship, Patrick Hill of Mintaro and father of three netballers currently playing for Min/Man, had a huge task of keeping hundreds of country netballers and officials happy.

This year’s Country Championships were interrupted by a Thunderbirds match on Sunday afternoon - which was not accepted that well by the country associations as more matches had to be played on Saturday and earlier starts on each day also had to be planned. Congratulations to Patrick, his committee and Netball SA who did an exceptional job in keeping the Country Championships flowing.

A highlight for North Eastern was the selection of Katie Liebelt in the 2008 Top Ten Players of the competition. Katie was outstanding in her court play and accurate shooting and was a deserved recipient of this honour.

For the first time, NENA enjoyed the services of sports trainer Paula Smith who was kept busy attending to players’ ailments and was a vital asset to both officials and players.

In the A Grade this year, 10 girls made themselves available to play for NENA being Laura Ross, Kate Faulkner (Min-Man), Katie Liebelt, Tammy Redding, Amanda O’Shaughnessy, Sally-Anne Heinrich, (South Clare), Kerrie Marshall (Eudunda), Sarah Noack, Lori Wheeldon (RSMU), Kellie Vasek (North Clare), coach Paula Noack (RSMU) with team manager Sharyn Roberts (BBH). team umpire Janet Zweck (B/S).

Ten teams nominated in the A grade from throughout the state and 9 minor round games were played.

Match results: NENA 27 drew Yorke Pen 27; NENA 27 lt Northern Areas 33; NENA 37 d Barossa/Light & Gawler 35; NENA 17 lt River Murray 45; NENA 26 lt Pt Augusta 32; NENA 22 lt Great Southern 36; NENA 20 lt Western Border 33; NENA 20 lt MSE 41; NENA 20 lt KNT 35.

At the end of the minor round the A grade finished 9th on the ladder.

Injury to key defender Sally-Anne Heinrich left NENA one tall defender down and played the carnival with nine fit players.

Whilst the results showed with one win and one draw, NENA was very competitive against NANA, Port Augusta and Western Border and unfortunately could not turn the scoreboard in our favour.

The team must be applauded on their positive approach to each game regardless of the result. All players combined well and we saw many of them grow in stature and improve their defensive pressure creating many turnovers for the side.

Coach, Paula Noack was proud of the team’s efforts and was impressed with their commitment. Each player took on certain tasks instructed and worked hard to achieve their personal tasks each game.

All 10 girls must be commended on their dedication to the team and for the pride they took in representing North Eastern Netball Association.

B Grade playing coach Cath Greenslade and team manager Gwen Smith (South Clare) had a mixture of young and old in the B Grade team with all girls giving it their all. Sunday was their highlight of the weekend when they won their first match against Gawler & Districts. BBH youngsters Megan Brooks, Ariane Harnett, Emma Shattock and Courtney Tippet provided much run and height for the team supported by Min/Man’s Annette Hodge and Lyn Jacka’s determination. The more experienced players of Carrie Affolter of BBH, Cath Greenslade and Mandy Clark (RSMU) never gave up stood like a rock in any positions. Unfortunately by Sunday evening, Mandy Clark could hardly walk and Cath Greenslade’s thumb was not going to be catching any more balls, so an emergency reserve had to be called on for Monday matches. This was the first time for the majority of the team that have competed at CC level and are determined to return in 2009. Keryl Maidment (BBH) was team umpire.

The A Grade and B Grade players also took the opportunity to use the West Beach chilly seas to help with their recovery after the gruelling of two days of physical netball - as this did prove advantageous to their somewhat tired bodies.

The members of the 17U team were Bonnie Hill (MinMan, captain), Lucy Affolter (BBH) (Vice Captain), Kirsty Faulkner, Courtney Stone, Danielle Willis (South Clare), Hannah Connell, Emma Window, Amelia Michalak (RSMU), Rosina Possingham (MinMan), Hannah Marschall (Eudunda). Mary Connell (RSMU) coached and Julie Heddle (RSMU) was team manageress. Trudy Jones (South Clare) was team umpire.

Saturday was a very hectic with the girls playing 6 of their 8 games. The girls got off to a good start with first game indoors against Yorke Peninsula and had a 6 goal lead at half time. Yorke played well in the second half and NENA hung on to a thriller by 1 goal (14-13). The next game was against Great Flinders and after being even at half time, the girls pulled away to win by 5 goals (16-11). The third game was against Whyalla and the girls lost by 8 goals (13-21). We then played Hills and after being down by 4 goals at half time, defensive turnovers allowed the girls to win by 1 goal (14-13). The 5th game of the day was against Southern Hills and with accurate goaling, great run through centre and tight defence, the girls won 28-13. The last game of the day was against second placed Western Border and after being down by 6 goals at half time, the girls found some more run in their legs and lost the 2nd half by 2 goals. Final score (19-27).

17Us lost Courtney Stone through injury on Saturday, and was forced to make adjustments for the remainder 2 days. Courtney continued to support and encourage the team.

On Sunday NENA was up against the very tall and hard working top placed River Murray team and even with tired legs sore muscles the girls played a tight defensive game, worked hard through centre court and shot well to only lose by five goals where other teams had lost by more than 10.

On Monday the girls started slowly and scrappily against Gawler Districts, who had not won a game so far, but pulled away with good teamwork in the second half to win by 9 goals (24-15).

After the minor round, the girls were placed third which meant the first final was against Northern Areas. At half time the team was down by three goals, positional changes were made to give all players a run. This change gave the team some zing and the girls came out firing, playing brilliant, competitive netball. With fantastic crowd support the defences created turnover after turnover to allow the goalies to shoot 16 goals without a miss and each ball through centre court was contested and chased down. An exhilarating win 25-21.

The win against NANA was just enough to earn the girls a spot in the Semi Finals against undefeated top placed River Murray. The girls worked very hard, with only 3 goals in it at half time. Unfortunately River Murray ran away with the game in the second half winning by 12 goals (27-15).

The 17U finished 4th out of the 27 teams in their division - a fantastic effort by all the girls.

With such versatility in the team, positional changes were non restrictive with most of the girls being able to play many positions. They were a joy to coach and behaved in a manner NENA can be proud of. Many thanks to the parents for their support and assistance with scoring.

15U coach Sharyn Daly of South Clare was ably supported by Sally Lynch of BBH as team manager and team umpire Emma Ayliffe M/M. Congratulations to the following girls who were selected for the team: Casey Knight, Brittany Daly, Maddy Pitcher of South Clare, Paige Lynch and Molly Affolter of BBH, Jade Klaebe, Ella Noake, Ellen Callery, Hannah Clarke of RSMU and Kartia Stephens of Blyth/Snowtown.

These girls did the NENA association proud. They played five matches on Saturday winning four. They defeated Great Flinders 20-16. This was a very tight and physical game. The goalies shot well and our defence gave us plenty of turn-overs. One player ended up with a black eye and a skinned knee! We then won against Mid West 33-11. We were far too strong all over the court to finish with a convincing win.

The next match we met our match in Western Border. We lost 26-13. They shell-shocked us in the first half but we settled and matched them pretty well in the second. We had a “never say die” attitude!

Our match against Port Augusta was strong and quick. We won 22-14 with our goalies finishing off opportunities and defences rebounding well. Our final match on Saturday was against Mid Hills. We got off to a convincing start and finished 23-16 in front.

Sunday was an early rise. Playing Riverland at 8am was not going to be easy. They certainly gave us a lesson in netball. Their quickness and accuracy were faultless. We lost 24-13. We were back on the winning track again in the next game against KNT. A real positive effort by all the girls 26-12.

Great Southern proved to be a strong competitor. Playing them in front of some loud supporters helped and we won 24-27.

We had our final minor round game Sunday morning against SYP. We knew if we could get a strong win we might even jump up to second place. We won 29-8 but even that wasn’t enough!

This meant we finished third in our division. We needed to play a qualifying final against Mallee.

We fought well being 10-13 down at half time after starting nervously. Our second half was goal for goal and we got close but lost 22-25.

Congratulations to all the girls on their team spirit and their competitive nature.

13U coach Helen Smith S/C and Lisa Bennie S/C as team manager were ecstatic with their girls who never gave up throughout the weekend and NENA looks forward to these girls progressing through the grades in the years to come. Throughout the weekend the team came up against some tall and skilful players and after Day 1 the team was travelling nicely with some great matches to their credit. With many of the 13U matches being tight, Monday saw the 13U finish 5th in their division and played in the first consolation final. Although winning this final it was not enough percentage to advance to the next consolation final.

Well done to the following for making the 13U team Georgia Mills BSR, Maddison Jacka, Caitlin Hill, Molly Bruhn & Darcy Jenner of Min/Man, Amber O’Bryan BBH, Rhiley Huppatz NC, Lauren Collins, Simone Bennie and Ebony Aughey of South Clare. Team umpire was Sarah Thomas (Eud) .

During the weekend all enjoyed the nightly reports on how each team were progressing, while the junior grades also dined in on yummy pizza on Saturday night. On Sunday afternoon all watched the impressive Thunderbirds have a great win before all players and officials dined at The Rex and enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere before returning to their beds for a well earnt sleep. Many thanks to the umpires, sports trainer, team managers and coaches for their time, energy and support to their teams as they helped to develop the 50 netballers from our association.