Eagles U16 won a brilliant Silver Medal in the Netball South Performance Clubs Invitational competition, losing in the final to Oldham. This was a fantastic way for the girls to round off such a strange season.

This year’s England Netball Nationals were cancelled due to COVID, so Netball South stepped forward to replace it with a similar Invitational competition involving top teams from across the country. This was held at Warwick University on 21 & 22 August.

On the first day Eagles secured a top six finish with assured wins over AP Saints, Grangetown, Wimborne Aquarians and TTNC Warriors. But the real test would come on Sunday, and they didn’t disappoint.

First up was Bury, who beat Eagles twice at the U14 Nationals two years ago. This time Eagles were really fired up, and started in spectacular fashion opening up a 7 goal lead at the end of the first quarter. The girls kept their intensity and focus throughout the match and deservedly took the win.

Second match was against MK Dons, our fellow Netball South representatives, who held us to a draw in the Regional Qualification league. The match was extremely tight, level after the third quarter but Eagles managed to finish two goals ahead to earn a place in the Final.

The Final against Oldham was a daunting task, and Oldham raced into an 11-4 lead at the end of the first quarter. Our girls kept their heads up and managed to win the second and fourth quarters but this wasn’t enough to overturn Oldham’s lead.

Winning the Silver Medal was a real achievement, and just reward for all the hard work put in by the girls and coaches over the years. Rising stars Maddi and Dane were awarded Coaches Players of the Tournament, and Charlotte was awarded Eagles Player of the Tournament by the other clubs that we played.

Well done to our U16s Abi, Sophie, Regan, Charlotte, Maddi, Lucy, Marta, Katharina, Phoenix, Dane, Tori and Eden, and coaches Maria, Lisa, Tina, Farrah and Neil.