Sports School successfully defend North Zone C and B Division netball titles with convincing victories

Story by REDintern Kenneth Tan. Photos by Koh Yizhe/Red Sports

Yishun Sports Hall, Thursday, March 11, 2010 - Singapore Sports School proved too strong for their opponents in both the C and B Division netball finals as they outclassed Anderson Secondary 29-6 and Canberra Secondary 24-13 respectively to defend their titles.

In the C Division final, Sports School raced to a perfect 7-0 lead in the first quarter as their accurate passing and constant pressure gave the Anderson team hardly any chance to breathe. Anderson ended the quarter without making any significant shots.

Sports School decided to rotate their squad in the second quarter by putting in players who sat out the first quarter. They scored the first goal of the quarter, but Anderson seized the advantage by landing four consecutive goals which were all converted by their diminutive Goal Attack.

That narrowed the score to 8-4, but Sports School finished the quarter strongly and scored two more to increase the lead to 10-4.

The Sports School continued their strategy of switching their players around.The towering Amelia Tan, who played as GK in the first quarter, switch to playing GS in the third for Sports School. That proved to be an astute switch as Anderson were constantly stretched in the quarter and they scored only two goals against Sports School's nine.

Sports School continued their free-scoring streak by landing another eight points in the final quarter to shape the final score of 29-6, outclassing their opponents in the process.

"Other than size, our speed was important," commented a victorious Sports School coach Noraida Bte Abdul Malik, when asked about the main difference between her team and Anderson. "I also tried to deploy them in different positions which I think they adapted to quite well, especially in keeping up the turnovers."

"The players do strength and conditioning training with the other coaches which trained up their core strength," Noraida elaborated when being quizzed about how her team prepared for the game. "We also tried to give them variation in their training, for example speed work and agility work. I think that’s the area that we have the edge over Anderson."

In the B Division final, Sports School faced a stiffer challenge from Canberra. The latter battled well in the first quarter, as they took the game to their opponents and forced a 4-4 tie towards the end of the period.

However Canberra could not sustain their efforts as Sports School's sharp shooting saw them outscoring Canberra 8-3 in the second quarter to take a 12-7 lead.

The third quarter saw Canberra battling to whittle down the lead but to no avail, as they were outscored 3-5 by Sports School, which saw them trailing 10-17.

Canberra scored two straight goals early in the final quarter which rallied their supporters in the stands who were hoping for a comeback, but they faltered after the early promise which saw Sports School scoring six goals in a row to extend the lead to an insurmountable 23-12 scoreline, with their outstanding GA contributing five goals.

Both teams scored one each later on to shape the final scoreline of 24-13, which saw Sports School adding their B Division title to their earlier C Division crown.

"We lost out in terms of height, but in terms of skills we fought very hard," commented Canberra coach’s Pamela Neo, when asked what caused the defeat after a very even first quarter. "The team's focus and stamina also dropped as all seven starting players played in all four quarters."

"Other than having trainings on how to break up Sports School's attacks, I also trained them on their speed," Pamela elaborated, when quizzed on how she tackled the height issue. "If you notice, my players' jump height is rather good."

"We will sharpen up on our individual skills," Pamela added on how her team will prepare for the upcoming nationals.

"We will have a short tour to Malaysia for the players to take a break," explained Sports School coach Miss Rawinia Manihera about how her team will prepare for the Nationals. "This will be a good opportunity for team bonding. When we get back, we will be carrying on to train on our skills and conditioning."

North Vista finished as second runners-up in both the B and C Divisions, beating Seng Kang Secondary 19-13 and Anderson 21-14 respectively in the 3rd/4th place playoffs.