Tournament success is a sign of good progress

LOTS of high-quality play was seen in the All About Netball league tournament for teams of varying abilities hosted in Fareham at Cams Hill School.
Fireflys elite squad had a great tournamentFireflys elite squad had a great tournament
Fireflys elite squad had a great tournament

It was a culmination of the partnerships with local clubs, England Netball sessions such as the Back to Netball initiative, the coaching and umpiring staff that have grown from this, that All About Netball has formed.

Founder Helen Keet said: ‘It’s important we work together locally and build our netball family, thus giving players within each community, club or even team, far more opportunities.’

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With the sun high in the sky the day was set to be a good one.

Teams were split into two groups of slightly different standards and faced each team in the group once, in a 12-minute encounter.

On the sideline ready to coach teams and offer tips and different set plays was Karen Greig, part of the England netballing elite, a former player for England herself.

She then went on to coach, including the England Roses team as Assistant coach to Tracey Neville at the World Cup, Sydney in 2015 where England took home the bronze medals.

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Greig is currently director of netball for Manchester Thunder Superleague team.

Joining her for the day from Netball elite were two of the Team Bath Super League squad, Yasmin Parsons and Laura Rudland.

Both players started netball careers locally and are always ready to return and help out.

They joined the Fireflys, which included Parsons’ sister, Georgia.

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They had a formidable team but gave the other teams a chance to see how their own play would shape up against such a strong squad.

The team also offered advice during the game to the players from the opposition to aid improvements.

It was no surprise that Fireflys remained unbeaten throughout the day.

But a challenge from eventual runners-up, Ravens Yellow, gave the elite team a little bit of a scare for a while.

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Team captain Charlotte Ward made a couple of changes at half-time.

Overall some great netball was played and sportsmanship was shown at its best.

In the other group, teams from Bournemouth, Dolly Mix, Havant, Havant a Clue turned up to what was to be a very close affair.

Ravens Purple, like team Yellow, are part of the Ravens club who are growing fast.

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Carey McCormick, England Netball development coach for the area, was there to support her club Ravens, who went on to win the group.

Close behind was Dare to Dream and that was a strong effort after captain Hannah Early had recruited them only the week before.

They only lost once to Havant a Clue who came joint third with team And 1, who after spending time with Greig managed to improve the standard of their play.

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