Congratulations to all the players who have been part of the 2017/2018 PwC Academies which train on a Saturday morning and are feeder groups to the Under 12, Under 14 and Under 16 Island Squads. Certificates to confirm players participation in these groups were presented by Abigail McDermott and Chris van den Berg from PwC.

Thank you to PwC for their continued support of our Academies. This season they were run as Talent, Satellite and County Academies though this will change to age banded sessions from next season.

Those players involved in the Under 14 and Under 16 Squads were also presented with Trophies for their individual performance and contribution to the teams successes and NSW Runners Up Trophies as both teams finished 2nd in their respective Leagues.

Congratulations to Lily Jones who has been awarded the Norman Family Shield. Lily has had an outstanding season not only in the Under 16 Team Jets Squad but also the Under 17 Severn Stars Squad. Her dedication to all her netball training which includes travelling to the UK once a month to train as part of the Under 17 Severn Stars Hartbury NOVA Academy is fantastic.

The trophy was presented at the PwC Presentation Ceremony today by Mrs Norman who is an Honorary Life Member of the JNA. Her family have been connected to the JNA since its inception in 1944. Also photographed below as Lily's parents (left), Mrs Jackie Norman, Mr Leslie Norman and Mr Len Norman.

Thank you and congratulations to everyone who has been nominated for a position on next seasons committee. Many have been involved for a many years and without them the JNA would not be in the position it is now. However more volunteers are needed as we embark on the fundraising project for our own home of netball. The key roll of Social Secretary is vacant, as is the publicity officer. If you feel you could undertake either of these roles please contact our president [email protected].

The JNA Annual Dinner and Awards was a fantastic 'Game of Throws' themed extravaganza! Well done to organiser and Social Secretary Summer Lister. 

To see more photos from the evening please link here

The following awards were presented:

and after about 5 years they succeeded in reaching the 1st division.  It made the evening complete to have members of the 'original' squad there, Winnie Ludlow was the only other 1968 player who managed to attend.
 
Our other special guests were The Constable of St Lawrence, Deidre and her husband Dave, the Junior Vice President of the Jersey Netball Association, Liz Olim and Paul Adamson. Paul has been an umpire for St Lawrence for the past 20 years and he retired at the end of this season. He has been a real stalwart of the club and he will be sorely missed. Paul was presented with a gift as a Thank you for the years of dedication that he has given to the club.
 
The evening got off to a superb start with the inclusion of some heart warming songs from the Harmony Men. There were approximately 12/15 lovely gentlemen who sang their hearts out to entertain us. It really did set the evening off well. Photo No 4965 is of the Harmony Men serenading Rena Nelson with an adaptation of a song that they had put together, using her name! Rena works with one of the group and she liaised with them to attend the event, hence they surprised her with this rendition!
 
The surprise of the evening for me was to see one of our past members walk through the door totally unexpected, because she has lived in Devon for the past 8 years. Rosie Joynson was a very active member of St Lawrence N.C. when she lived on The Rock, she played, coached, umpired and was the secretary for a number of years before she and her family went to live in Devon. Rosie gave a short speech where she stated that she just HAD to attend this prestigious event, as St Lawrence was and still is very dear to her. She wished the club well for the next 50 years! Rosie keeps up to date on all of the progress of the club through our Club Facebook page....the wonders of technology!
 
Jackie Nelson concluded the speeches by saying.....'From a little acorn grows a big oak tree'. In 1968 St Lawrence had 10 members and one team, now in 2018 it has 6 senior teams and 3 youth consisting of just over 100 members.
 
This event was very kindly sponsored by C.P.A. Global, for which we are most grateful.

Jersey won 2 out of the 3 games in the Annual Upton's clash which this year was held in Guernsey.

Accies were first in court as undefeated Division 3 winners and faced Artemis 2. Scoring on their opening centre pass and then gaining a 2 nil advantage was a big boost for Accies, however the young side still took time to settle. Despite numerous tips and interceptions by GK Natacha Searson and GD Honor Daniels who worked tirelessly throughout, Accies found themselves with lost opportunities which allowed Artemis to go end the first quarter with a 10 v 8 lead.

With Alyshia Whitworth coming in at centre it was Artemis who hit the ground running as their shooters showed great accuracy however with growing defensive pressure from Whitworth and WD Abbie Taylor, Accies started to put their nerves behind them and find improved movement. WA Cait Brennan linked well with the defence to ensure Accies could capitalise on turnovers and Accies found that they had caught up. With Artemis missing shots and Accies gaining rebounds and turnovers Accies scored 5 in a row to take a 16 v 22 lead at half time.

Further changes added Paige O’Leary at WD and Whitworth dropped to WA as Lena Holden returned to centre. Holden helped to steady the team to help ensure Accies kept pushing as Artemis worked hard to take it back to a one goal game, but some great feeds to GA Gabrielle Scott combined with her determined movement Accies once again took control and ensured a lead of 38 v 26 going into the final quarter.

For the last 15 minutes first half WA Cait Brennan took up the C bib and Accies once again had to work hard to fend off Artemis who never gave up attempting to close the deficit. GS Abbie Thompson however gave them a fantastic edge with a 100% shooting record in the final quarter to ensure her team keep at least a 10 goal lead (78% overall). Accies showed fantastic determination, proving why they have now won 3 trophies this season and ended winning 49 v 35.

Another young side in Convent D then took to the court. The Under 16 team faced Resolution Black who are an experienced side featuring players from the Senior B and Over 30s Squads from the recent Interinuslars. It was the home side who stamped their authority on the match from early on and took a 23 v 8 first quarter lead. Convent D never gave up, working hard until the final whistle, showing great character but they ended up on the wrong side of the 67 v 38 scoreline.

Convent A however made amends for their D team loss beating Resolution A 66 v 59. However Convent A were made to work for the win with the score all square after the first 15 minutes. It was Convent A who took control of the game from the seond quarter however with shooters Tallulah Norman and Sophie Holmes linking confidently allowing them to lead 35 v 28 by half time. The strength of attack combined with a strong defensive trio in Molly Carre, Gabriella Martin and Lisa Luce ensured Convent had a 52 v 44 lead with 15 minutes to go, and this lead would prove too much for the Guernsey side to come back from.

The Divisional Winners of the Jersey and Guernsey netball leagues play each other in the annual Uptons on Sunday 22nd April in Guernsey. In preparation, the Jersey league winners each played a team made up of 'the best of the rest' in Champs v The Rest on Wednesday evening. The divisional Winners were Convent A, Convent D and Accies D for Division 1, 2 and 3, respectively.

The division 1 game produced a fast exciting match with Convent winning 42-28. The first half was quite evenly matched with Jersey representative players across both teams. However, the familiarity of Convent shone through with excellent timing and movement through court providing more attacking opportunities and conversion of turnovers. 
 
Good luck to all Jersey teams in the Uptons on Sunday. 

The Final Dominion Winter League Table is out! Congratulations to all the teams but especially to the Winners and Runners Up of each Division.