Netting success in USA

The La Lucia Netball Club recently returned from the USA where they competed in the International Youth Netball Tournament.

The team includes Salt Rock player Briony Blevin from Ashton College. Incredibly the team which was only formed earlier this year finished the outdoor tournament unbeaten, winning nine games and drawing two.

The girls took on teams from Australia, USA, Canada and Bermuda at the ESPN Sports Facility in Orlando, Florida. This was the first time a South African team travelled to the tournament.

Coach of the team, Marchelle Maroun, said she was exceptionally proud of her charges.

“They coped with the jetlag and they played some exceptional netball against tough opposition. But what pleased me most was their conduct on court. One of the English teams at the tournament had written down on a chalkboard all the negative aspects of their gameplay, with phrases like ‘we suck’.

“Our girls went over to the team and erased the messages and replaced them with messages like ‘hang in there’ and ‘you are awesome’. That was a wonderful moment and it epitomised the spirit within our team,” she said.

Blevin said the experience was a dream come true. “I have been passionate about netball since I was six years old when I was first introduced to the sport by a very inspiring and dedicated coach Mev Robbertse at Pongola Akademie. On the tour we even had an opportunity to play netball in Disney World! What made it for me was our coach and manager Marchelle and Sam, they really brought out the best in each of us,” she said.

The young netball star is funding her overseas netball tours through her own Belle’s Biscotti range of delicious home made biscotti – now on sale at Tiffany’s in Salt Rock.