U14 Netball Tournament at St Teresa’s

Monday saw ND take the U14A team to play in the St Teresa’s netball tournament. A round robin with 5 school teams participating and a great result for Notre Dame finishing in 3rd, only a very close 13-12 loss to St T’s took away their silver medal position!

A great day with some lovely netball played by a group who are developing more and more in the sport both on the court as well as off it, a pleasure to coach.

U16 Netball Tournament at St Teresa’s

On Wednesday, our U16A team also took part in the St Teresa’s tournament. All players got on to the court and played although due to some schools withdrawing we played less netball than we had hoped. Not to take away anything from our U16’s, they competed strongly against St T’s and Rosebery schools.

Kit Reminder

A quick reminder to ensure that students have the right netball trainers for outside training/fixtures especially as we head into the winter months ahead when the courts become more challenging. I am always happy to help with any advice on appropriate netball footwear if helpful.

Netball Tour to Spain

Look out for information in the next couple of weeks about a potential Netball Tour to Spain for years 8 and 9, there will be limited numbers invited to attend (up to 30) which will go out in the Easter holidays for 5 days. Watch this space!! 5 days, 4 nights, coaching by top netballers, a tournament against other UK schools and a day out to Portaventura Theme Park!

Good Luck

Good luck to all our students who play in netball clubs outside school as the leagues all begin to play again. We have some great netball players and I wish you all much success for the new season.

Senior 2nd XL Hockey Team v Latymer Upper

Notre Dame vs Latymer Upper – Match Report 

The girls had a great game against Latymer Upper on Wednesday in the glorious sunshine here at school.

Notre Dame got off to a fantastic start, showing great energy and teamwork. By half-time, they were leading 2-0 thanks to well-taken goals from Freya and Emily.

Latymer Upper came out strong in the second half, quickly leveling the score with two goals of their own. Emily responded brilliantly, netting her second of the match to restore our lead, but Latymer weren’t done yet and equalised again to make it 3-3.

With both teams pushing hard and chances flying at both ends, it was Freya who sealed the win in dramatic fashion, scoring her second goal in the final minute of the game!

Final Score: Notre Dame 4 – Latymer Upper 3

U15s Hockey – Notre Dame vs SWPS

On Wednesday, the U15s faced SWPS in a competitive fixture under bright skies at school. The girls started strongly, creating several attacking opportunities and putting pressure on the SWPS goalkeeper. Despite winning a couple of short corners, they were unable to convert their chances into goals.

This early intensity seemed to ignite SWPS, who responded with a strong spell of play and managed to score twice before the break, taking a 2-0 lead into half-time.

The second half was a much more balanced contest, with most of the action taking place between the two 25-yard lines. Notre Dame continued to push forward and came close on a few occasions, but couldn’t quite find the back of the net. Late in the game, SWPS extended their lead with a third goal, sealing a 3-0 victory.

Players of the Match: Poppy H and Lexi H, for their outstanding performances and determination throughout the game.

🏏 Winter Nets Update – Years 7–9 Cricketers in Action!

Our budding cricketers from Years 7 to 9 are sharpening their skills this winter with expert coaching from the Rajasthan Royals! With a focus on technique, teamwork, and game awareness, these sessions are helping our players prepare for an exciting cricket season ahead.

We’re proud to see such dedication and enthusiasm; the future of school cricket is looking bright!

Watch them in action on this Sports Instagram Reel

Last week was very interesting in my netball world. I travelled to Gibraltar as a Director on World Netball Board for a series of face to face meetings as well as to support the Netball World Youth Cup being held in Gibraltar for the first time in 8 years due to the Covid impact.

The trip started with a diversion to Malaga airport instead of landing in Gibraltar due to a total power outage in the country, imagine that happening here!

7 hours later we finally arrived back in Gibraltar very late on Tuesday having been taken by coach from Malaga, that is the second time in a year that has happened on a flight down there!

Our World Board is made up of volunteers from all over the netball globe including Fiji, New Zealand, Trinidad and Tobago, Sri Lanka to name a few. We tend to meet remotely to be more cost effective, Board is always on a Friday night starting at 10pm here in the UK which makes it a long week by the time we finish at 2am.

Two days of Board meetings where we discussed a range of topics including netball in the Olympics, Commonwealth Games, future Events Strategies amongst other key items and received a final presentation from Hosts Gibraltar ahead of the opening of the NWYC on Friday.

Gibraltar is a very small country but with a huge heart. The Opening Ceremony was brilliant, a true reflection of the character and determination of the Gibraltarians and their commitment to sport of every kind. Their population is only 36,000 so to put on this world event is amazing.

I decided to take myself up the cable car to the top of the Rock and for some reason decided it would be a good idea to walk back down, a guide time of between 2 – 3 hours! It was definitely a challenge, the paths were overgrown and at one point I had to run the gauntlet of a huge group of Barbary monkeys on the path in front of me, by that time I had scrambled half way down and didn’t fancy going back up so hoped I would be ok!

Liking a competition, I managed to get down in 53 minutes but not before I had seen signs on the paths warning of snakes (not my favourites) and literally going down paths which I don’t think had been used for some time! I am sure there would have been better options!

The Netball World Youth Cup saw the 20 qualifying teams competing against each other over 9 days, the event has reached the semi-finals and for the first time in their history, South Africa Baby Proteas have won a place in the semi-final against Australia. England take on New Zealand in the other semi.

It is a real privilege to have been elected on to the Board of World Netball, a position I have held since 2019 and to see athletes from across the globe participating in the sport they love. The Malawi Queens were amazing, Tonga’s supporters sang the most beautiful melodies throughout every game they played. It is both humbling and inspiring to be part of our global sport, a reminder about the importance of being a volunteer in a sport which only really runs on volunteer power (very few member countries have any paid staff) and to see the opportunity for athletes to do what they do best – play the greatest sport (IMHO) of netball.

Now we focus on preparations for Sydney 2027 for the Netball World Cup and of course, the work continues to see if we can become an Olympic sport. We continue to want to inspire every netballer at every level of play to find their space in our sport and global community, netballers supporting netballers and despite their differences we are all bound by the greatest love for this funny game!!

We love to hear about your daughters’ achievements in sport outside school. Please do share any photos and news with us and we will include it in the Friday Mailing!
(email lplummer@notredame.co.uk)

We also post videos and photos on our Sports Instagram Account so please do send any sports news throughout the term and we will aim to share it!

Notre Dame Sport (@notredamecobham_sport) • Instagram photos and videos