The Muswellbrook Netball Association took two teams away to Camden over the June long weekend for the NSW Senior State Titles.
The two sides were an Opens team coached by Ian Ingal which included some 17s players when a full team was not able to be entered for that age group, and the 15s team coached by Ian Richards.
As well as the two squads and their supporters, there were three umpires that helped ensure the games were up to scratch.
Amelia W (National C badge), Emily B (awarded National B badge at the event) and Tina B (National B badge) represented the club well in their official capacity.
Muswellbrook Opens
With the team ranging in age from 16 to 40, the Muswellbrook Opens side boasted some very experienced players in the ranks heading into the NSW State Titles over the June long weekend.
Laughing that it is routine at this time of year to go away for tournaments, this year was extra special for Jade Harris and Claudia Murray.
“I coached Claudia and one of the other girls in their 11s development, so their first year in rep I coached then so the incentive this year was we can all play together, let’s go and do it,” Jade shared.
“So, it was a completely different kind of dynamic this year that was exciting.”
The squad played 18 games across the weekend and came away with equal third, winning a whopping 14 of their games.
They were all really proud of the achievement and rightly so, maintaining their composure in their games to keep the scores competitive.
“It’s really cool to think that you’re inspirational to younger girls and your actions make a difference in their worlds and you don’t think it really does,” Claudia shared when discussing what it was like being in the top tier of the competition.
With a number of the players in this year’s squad looking at moving on to university at the end of this year they will be looking at a fresh line-up for 2025, their success is something to be celebrated.
Muswellbrook 15s
The youngsters of the senior competition, the Muswellbrook girls were nervous but excited for the state titles competition.
Playing 16 games over three days against some strong competition the girls were able to hold their heads high even when they lost all but one of their games.
“The really biggest highlight was winning a game, that was the best highlight of all of the three days, there were some other games we were really close but we did lose by a couple points,” Sophia Morley shared.
“The whole weekend was about effort for us and how much effort we put into each game, and it was lots of fun,” Ruby Radcliff added.
