Primary State Cup - Bundaberg

A squad of 10 players from Years 4 to 6 set off on Friday 14 September for the long drive up to Bundaberg to represent Somerset College in the annual Primary State Cup Netball Competition. Spirits were high, singing voices loud, setting the tone for the journey.

Arriving at our amazing accommodation we settled in, had a team talk and were raring to go on Saturday morning.

We were in Pool K but didn’t know any of the teams and so we approached each game with quite a few nerves.

Game 1 v St Peter’s Rochedale

Our shooters Marley Burns and Ruby Partridge found their groove early on and set up a strong 18 to 6 win.

Game 2 v Springers

This game caught us napping. Sadly we didn’t seem to get the ball down to our shooters as best as we could and we finished with a 9 to 7 defeat. We knew from this result we needed to up our game.

Game 3 v Wishart School Blue

This game was always going to be a tough one as the school had already won their two previous rounds by a large margin. When we saw the size of their Goal Shooter (a six foot boy) we knew we had to pull out our big guns. An amazing first half saw us in the lead, 8 to 3. Unfortunately we lost Lili Bannerman early in the second half to a finger injury. Despite amazing leaps and rebounds by Giovanna Basile, Wishart came out the victors by 12 to 10. Wishart then went on through the competition to make it to the Semi Finals.

Game 4v St Augustine’s 2

We managed a convincing win by 31 to 0.

Game 5 v Avoca Bluebirds

We followed up with another convincing win of 22 to 1.

Despite our amazing statistics were put in Division 3. We were determined not to drop any more games.

We went back to base for a swim in a refreshing (cold!) pool, enjoyed fun and games on the lawn, pizza and an impromptu Spartans Idol show before retiring early to bed in preparation for day two.

What a start to the day we had!

Game 1 v St Benedicts

Once again Marley and Ruby read the play off each other. We saw amazing feeding into the circle by Lili (back from injury) and Rio. A solid defence from Daisy, Kinari and Giovanna led to a 13 to 3 victory.

Game 2 v Roma State

Lili moved in to take some shots and linked well with both Ruby and Marley, Daisy had a strong game at centre. With Maddi McLaughlin as the wing defence and Natalie Mai at Goal Defence we went on to another win, 15 to 2.

Game 3 v Xavier Catholic College

We were high on a winning streak during this game, despite the soaring temperatures and the increased wind (not to mention the dust) making it tough for all players. We successfully achieved another win 12 to 2.

Game 4 v St Mary’s

This game was crunch time. St Mary's were also undefeated in the division. All players were fired up. Once again Ruby and Marley were on target with their shots and a solid defence once more came from Giovanna and Kinari. We were leading at half time by two points but it was not quite enough for us to let our guard down, nor for the coach to breathe easy. With only one change going into the second half, we pulled out all stops and secured a 12 to 8 win.

Game 5, our final game and we needed a win to secure our first place. Thankfully the girls did as they were asked and played their final game of the tournament with energy and determination. Victory was ours with a 14 to 2 win.

What an amazing tournament. Then there was just the short six hour trip home.

Congratulations to all players and thank you to all the parents for their support.