The students had a full and fun netball tour last weekend to Cardiff. The coaching involved three sessions by Lauda Rudland, who currently plays for the Celtic Dragons, and also their academy coaches. These sessions focused on their attacking movement and gameplay. The girls got so much out of these sessions and worked incredibly hard on court every time. They played a match against a local school after the first training session. The girls played three competitive fixtures, which resulted in two very close losses and a win for the U13's. I have never seen the girls with so much fight and determination on court - I hope they bring it back with them!
On Saturday, we were lucky enough to have a Q and A with the Ugandan National Team who were playing a test series against Wales over the weekend. They kindly gave up 40 minutes of their time during their busy preparation to talk to the girls about how they got into netball and what netball has brought to their lives - 'netball teaches you not to be selfish, you can only do well when you help other people shine' (Ugandan coach). 'Netball gives a sense of belonging, often to people that do not feel like they belong to a group of people or a society. I think they can make anyone in the world feel good, feel happy' (Peace Proscovia - Surrey Storm and Uganda). In the evening we were then fortunate enough to catch the second game of the series in Wales v Uganda. It was an incredibly tense and physical game of netball to watch and resulted in a second win for Uganda (Frensham were cheering very loudly) and we celebrated with the team afterwards having become their groupies! Two amazing opportunities
for the girls that could do nothing but inspire our future Roses. There was plenty of fun too as we managed to squeeze in bowling and a water park. A fantastic tour, the girls did Frensham proud and it was a pleasure to spend the weekend with them. So excited for the season ahead.