At each tournament five teams are promoted from each of the D, C and B grades and five are relegated from the A, B and C grades.
Girls’ High teacher in charge of netball and co-coach Lisa Panapa said a lot of factors came together to produce the success of the past two years.
Strong and consistent management in recent years was a big part of it. Co-coach Tanya Owen, mother of Kassie (one of the team’s senior players), was a championship-winning player and coach with High School Old Girls and an age-group coach with a wealth of netball knowledge. Panapa, herself, had coached YMP to their first championship in 2008 and was an age-group coach passionate about growing good young women to represent their school and community. Both coaches were old girls of the school.
Manager Samantha Cotter, mother of Hinerauiri Cotter-Luke (another senior player), attended every training session and was an all-round support person the team couldn’t have done without.
Having the same management meant consistent processes, routines and expectations over the three years.
Winning the C Grade tournament last year was huge for the team. In 2020 the tournament had been cancelled, and in 2021 they were all set to go when the tournament was cancelled – again because of Covid – on the Friday before they were due to leave for Auckland.
That 2022 C Grade win featured the team going unbeaten in 10 games, and overhauling Kings College in the last three minutes of the final to win 26-24.
They lost only two players from that playing group. The seven available for this year’s tournament were Joaquina Kaa (Year 13, a Senior A player since Year 9), Te Arai Waihape-Matthews (Y13, Snr A since Y11), Hinerauiri Cotter-Luke (Y13, Snr A since Year 11), Kassie Owen (Y12, Snr A since Y10), Natasha Porter (Y12, Snr A since Y11), Silke McNaught (Y13, Snr A since Y12) and Jaimee Rika (Y10, Snr A since Y9).
Players added to the squad this year were Piper Donaldson (Y13 from Manukura), Saige Brown (Y10, from GGHS Junior A) and Nevaeh-Marie Smith (Y10, from this year’s reserve-grade-winning GGHS Junior A team, brought into the squad for the Rotorua and Hamilton tournament games).
Gisborne Girls’ High were seeded 28th in the B Grade . . . 116 schools competed in four grades – 32 in each of the A, B and C grades and 20 in D Grade.
In the pool games, Gisborne beat Aorere 53-19, Sacred Heart 42-14 and Mt Roskill 54-26.
In the crossover games for top 16, Gisborne beat Albany Snr 51-12, Mahurangi 60-16 and Pukekohe 23-17.
In top-eight games, they beat Elim Christian School 53-33 and – in a tough, physical game that proved a good challenge – St Mary’s School 38-28.
Three of the semifinalists were teams newly promoted from the C Grade – Gisborne Girls’ High, Te Awamutu and Aquinas College. Gisborne beat Te Awamutu 53-34 and Aquinas, of Tauranga, beat St Mary’s by one goal.
Gisborne and Aquinas were the only teams in B Grade not to have lost a game up to this point.
In the final, GGHS led 8-7 at the end of the first quarter, 14-13 at the end of the second and 24-21 going into the last.
A key moment came at the end of the third quarter, when Kassie Owen shot a long-range penalty on the buzzer. It seemed to deflate the opposition and Girls’ High were motivated to push on. Strong defence created pressure all over the court and key turnovers led to a six-goal lead at one point. Girls’ High won by five, 32-27.
No players or positions were changed in the final until the closing stages of the fourth quarter. Year 10 players Saige Brown and Nevaeh Smith and injured senior player Natasha Porter came on at goal shoot, goal attack and wing attack respectively. Brown and Smith had played in all nine games leading up to the final, and Porter – unable to play because of injury for most of the tournament – deserved to be part of the team success.
Piper Donaldson and Jaimee Rika made the B Grade tournament team.
Panapa said that playing premier grade netball in the Gisborne club competition played a huge part in the success of the Girls’ High team.
The Girls’ High netball programme was also a significant factor.
“We don’t release our players to clubs, and one of the criteria for trialling for Senior A is that players must commit to the Upper North Island Secondary Schools Tournament,” Panapa said.
“Our programme of building on strong Year 9A, Junior A and Senior B teams has meant a growth system whereby players are selected, chosen and prepared in the younger grades to develop a strong Senior A premier team.”
The calibre of coaches for the teams was also key to their success.
“Next year will be a rebuilding year but the future is still good, with three Year 10 players in the team this year.”
Panapa wanted to thank the players and supporters of Te Kura o Manutuke and Campion College, who finished third and sixth respectively in the D Grade, for their “huge support” during the games.
She also paid tribute to the girls leaving the team this year, and thanked school principal Jan Kumar, sports coordinator Michelle Hall and the school community for their support throughout the season.
