On Saturday 1st July at Crystal Palace National Sports Centre the region held a festival celebrating netball from across the region. Examples of the game in various forms and at different levels were showcased along with this year’s annual Goalden Globe awards which highlight the tremendous work of volunteers making netball happen across the region.
The festival opened at 12pm with a Walking Netball mini tournament. The Walking Netball, set to a back drop of tunes including ‘I would walk 500 miles’ ‘These boots were made for walking’ and ‘Walk this way’, produced a lot of laughs from both the court and the crowd, with players not only getting a sweat on but a great amount of wiggling too. The Leatherhead team, Blue Swans, finished as overall winners with the Waddon Wigglers in second.
Next to take to the court was the Grand Final of the Inter Island tournament. The tournament, consisting of 11 teams each representing their Country of heritage, had been taking place on the outdoor courts during the morning and had been closely contested. The teams danced onto the court with a colourful flag parade to a backdrop of calypso music. Jamaica and GB were the last two teams standing after the morning’s games. After a thrilling final, it was GB who finished as Inter Island champions.
Maureen Clark, Regional Chair, then introduced the Goalden Globe awards with a speech to the crowd highlighting that without our amazing volunteer workforce, netball would not be in the healthy position we currently hold today. Maureen emphasised what a privilege it had been to read all the nominations and hear about all the work happening across the region making it very difficult for the panel to decide the eventual winners as everyone was a worthy of an award. The awards were presented by Lindsay Sartori, President of England Netball.
AWARDS went to
Grassroots Coach Award: Anna Harris
Grassroots Officials Award: Elz Eve
Muriel McNally Award: Jackie Rowland
Mary Bulloch Administrator Award: Jenny Harrold
Outstanding Netball Club Award: Cumberland Netball Club
Teachers Award: Carol Duffy
Unsung Hero Award: Eileen Brandrick and Clare Nicholls (Joint winners)
Young Volunteer Award: Hannah Rowell and Justine McAvoy (Joint winners)
For the highlight match and conclusion of the event, we saw the Surrey Storm and Wasps NPL teams take to the court. It was a close game with Wasps finishing eventual winners. It was absolutely amazing to see the young talented athletes who aspire to be our future England players.
The day was attended by over 400 people and was a real success. Thank you so much to all the volunteers who worked so hard and put many hours into making sure the event was a success.
Watch this space for plans for next year’s event and how you can get involved. For more information about netball in London and South East please contact londonandsoutheast@englandnetball.co.uk.