Minor premiers Golfie defeated Forbes Inn 36 – 22 in the final of the women’s Spring/Summer night competitions last Wednesday. Tyrepower defeated McClintocks 33 – 16 in mixed division 1, and the mixed division 2 final saw minor premiers Carrots defeat Maguire Contracting 44 – 22. Golfie’s Isabelle Cowhan and Joelene Pawson lead the way for their team. The teams started the first half goal for goal, with strong skills displayed by all players. Golfie was ahead by one goal at the first break, 10-9, and Forbes Inn was ahead by a goal at the half time, 19-18, thanks to very accurate shooting by Inn’s Kristy Butler. Meg Groat made a huge impact for Golfie when she went into the goal keeper position at the half time break, and shut down the shooting circle of Forbes Inn for the second half.

Forbes Inn’s Nikky Patton and Ari Summa kept up the pressure for their team, with strong attacking and passing, supported by Shea King and Casey Hodges. Alex Cowhan for Golfie never gave up. The court play was very even from both teams with the game played with very good sportsmanship. The mixed division final highlighted the skills the men have gained. Tyrepower started the game with strong netball, taking a lead of 11-2 at the first break, and leading 18-6 at half time. Defender Jordon Hartwig and shooter Damien Kennedy lead the way
for Tyrepower, with centre court Darren Piper also playing a very strong game. McClintocks’ Sarah Simmonds and Joelene Pawson matched the strength of the opposition, supported well by Kelvin Brown who never gave up. Courtney Ward for Tyrepower stood out with accurate shooting and strong attacking.

Many of the boys playing in the division 2 final were new to netball. Carrots took an early lead in the game, winning the first quarter by 18-6. They were lead by team captain Janssen Mores, and Isac Bell, who has shown outstanding netball skills during his first competition. The half time break had Carrots ahead by 27-9. The third quarter saw a come back from Maguire Contracting, with Jack Piercy leading the way, supported by Isac Carlisle and Tom Maguire, and their team narrowing the gap by three goals. Carrots came back in the fourth quarter,
stamping their mark on the game and then winning it 11-4, with good netball played by Daniel Ashcroft.

Best and Fairest awards were awarded to Joelene Pawson (ladies division 1) Sophie Prior (mixed division 1), and Jacob Howarth (mixed division 2). The next night competitions start in February.

By Robyn Kenny

Ainslie Toole is the Club Person of the Year of the Forbes Netball Association (FNA). Ainslie had made a huge impact in not only promoting netball in the community, but also lobbying politicians to get new netball courts in Forbes.

She started last year by securing a grant of $25,000 to re-build one court, and this year managed to commit politicians to $600,000 for the rebuilding of the Forbes netball complex. Senator Fiona Nash and Michael McCormack, Member for Riverina, promised earlier this year that if the Government were re-elected 12 new courts, eight with lights, would be built in Forbes.

Ainslie started lobbying when word got around that the FNA All Age carnival had to be cancelled as there were not enough playable courts for the large number of teams wanting to attend.

“It was very humbling and lovely to be recognised for the work I’ve done,” said Ainslie after receiving the award. “Our whole committee worked very hard to make positive changes. Our number one goal was to fix the courts.”

Ainslie joined the Forbes Netball Association Committee four years ago as registrar. During that time, she put the FNA on the map for online registrations by becoming the first netball association in the West/Central West to do so.

Ainslie stepped up to become President of the FNA two years ago, and whenever there was a politician in Forbes, she made sure to show them the unplayable state of the courts.

Ainslie had one message for parents: “The more involved you are in your childrens’ sport, the more fun you have.” She said it was a wonderful way to bond with kids. “I would really like to encourage parents to get involved to spend quality time with your kids.”

By Robyn Kenny

Players looking for teams, or teams looking for players should contact Secretary, Lyn Ford on email secretary.forbesnetball@gmail.com There is half a team of ladies who are playing mixed and would like to play in the ladies competition. Anyone interested should contact Lyn.

All nominations must be in by tomorrow. Ladies may play in both mixed and ladies competitions. Times for rounds are at 6, 7, and 8pm every Wednesday night, except through the school holidays when no competition is played.

Players wanting to register for 2016, and need assistance should contact Registrar Kerrie Priest. Any player who is already registered with NNSW will only need to pay the $40 competition fee per player per team. Players must be attending secondary school as minimum age, to open ladies and men.

The minor semi-finals were played last week with Koalas defeating Possums 11 – 0 in the 11 years category, and Firebirds taking a win over Pineapples 15 – 9 in the 13 years group. Koalas won the first quarter by 2 – 0 and the second quarter by 3 – 0.

Paige Britton was leading the way for Koalas, supported by Claire Turner. The Possums’ best players were Abbey Smith, with Ella White in support. The third quarter count was 3 – 0, with Koalas players Ruby Markwort and Bridie Hughes playing great netball. The Koalas finished off the final quarter with another 3 goals to take out the match.

In the 13 years game Firebirds players GiGi Stitt as goal attack had a great game, supported by Centre and goal defence Lauren Bate. Half time score was 8 – 4 to Firebirds. Pineapples’ goalkeeper, Jess Lawler had an outstanding game, supported by goal attack Ally Walsh. Pineapples came back in the third quarter winning it 5 – 4, but Firebirds finished off the final quarter with 2 – 0. In the opens sections Comedy Central had to forfeit their game against Libby’s team due to work and family commitments.

All three winning teams will play the loser of this week’s major semi-final on 27th August. The major semi-finals will be played tomorrow. Finals will be played on 27th August between the winner of the minor semis and the loser of the major semis. The winner of this weekend’s games will go straight to the grand finals to be played on 3rd September with the annual presentation and BBQ to be held the same day.

Nominations for the Best and Fairest awards are; 11 years: Wallabies – Shyeka Griffiths; Joeys – Zoe Anderson and Ellen Dolbel; Possums – Gabby White; Koalas – Claire Turner 13 years: Firebirds – Sybella Carlisle, Lauren Bate, Georgia Stitt; Magic – Aurella White; Fever – Ella Nicholls; Pineapples – Jess Lawler, Lara Pritchard Opens: Chucklers – Kerrie Priest; Comedy Central – Sarah Ridges; Hannah’s – Ellen McLinden; Libby’s – Jessie Rix.

The last rounds of the Forbes Netball Association Saturday competition were played last week, and the semi-finals start tomorrow. On 20th August the major semi-finals will take place, the finals on 27th August and the grand finals on 3rd September. The annual presentation will take place after the grand finals.

The Edna Jenkin Memorial Junior Encouragement Award for 11 and 12 years players is one of the awards to be presented. This award will be presented to a player who has shown outstanding co-operation, enthusiasm and sportsmanship throughout the season. The team encouragement award will go to one player in each team the coach would like to encourage in the 11 and 13 years competition.

Nominations for the Chris Read Memorial Award need to be handed in the by tomorrow. This award will go to an individual who is not on the committee, but has helped out in many different roles.

First grading games in the Spring Night competitions for both mixed and ladies teams will be played on 17th August, and the second grading games on 24th August.

The Forbes Netball Association (FNA) will play the second last round of the Saturday competition this weekend. The semi-final series will start with minor semis on 6th August, major semis on 13th August, finals on 27th August and the grand finals and presentations on 3rd September.

NetSetGo will be played as normal throughout those Saturdays, and Friday netball will continue through to the grand finals weekend. Any players in the 11 and 13 years age groups who would like to learn to shoot goals, should attend the netball courts at 4:30pm each week. There will be a shooting clinic before the normal Friday netball.

All coaching is free. Parents who would like to learn to umpire should attend at 5:30. Entries for the Spring night competitions for mixed and ladies teams close on 10th August. The first round will be played on 31st August. Orange NA will be holding a Gala Day on 7th August. The FNA will be taking three teams of 11, 10 and 8-9 years (NetSetGo). Anyone interested in playing contact Lyn Ford via email secretary.forbesnetball@gmail.com

The FNA will be hosting, for the first time in the Western region, a Mixed and Men’s Gala Day on 16th October for A Grade (Open competition), B Grade (Under 18), and C Grade (13-15 years) in both the Mixed and Men’s (only) divisions. All players must be financial members on NNSW. This will be an exciting and ground-breaking day for the FNA. Teams will be invited from all parts of NSW.

Forbes Netball Association 12 years representative team won Division 4 at the Netball NSW State Age Championships during the school holidays at the Berkley netball courts, Illawarra district. The 14 years representative team competed in division 3 for the first time, after finishing 3rd in division 4 last year.

The Championship is the largest female sporting event in the southern hemisphere with more than 3, 000 athletes, 309 teams, over 400 coaches and 500 umpires taking part. Sapphire Coast was the first game for the Forbes 12s, who won it 26-3. The team continued pulling off big wins with goal counts of 22-8 against Macleay, 27-2 against Kiama, 15-7 against Lower Clarence, 34 1 against Narrabri and 27-6 against Kurri Kurri.

This put the Forbes 12s in the spotlight as they finished undefeated and on top of the ladder after Day 1. Unfortunately a bug spread among the team on Day 2 taking many players ill. The healthy players kept the team together and exhausted themselves playing every game. They lost the first game to Taree 9 8, but a great win against Gunnedah 19-1 set up an exciting game against Nelson Bay, who was still undefeated. The courageous Forbes players won the game 12-10. The team finished off the day with more great wins over Port Stephens, Temora, Inverell, and Mudgee.

On Day 3 huge wins were recorded against Armidale, Casino, Leeton, Young, Cessnock, Coonabarabran and the final game stamped the division 4 win with a goal count playing against Blayney of 38-2. All games were timed at 24 minutes, so a massive effort from all the team of 12 year olds.

The team scored 460 goals and recorded 96 against over 7 games each day, totalling 21 games of netball. This resulted in a goal percentage of 22.82. Nelson Bay came second on a goal count of 13.78, after both teams had lost one game each over the weekend. This brave team of 12 year olds were a pleasure to coach every minute of our training and playing together.

Thank you to all the parents who also supported me, and the girls. Without that help, especially during Day 2 when the girls were so sick, the team could not have pulled off such an outstanding result.

Forbes 14 years representative team played in division 3. Eight of the ten players were members of the 13 years representative team that finished third in division 4 in 2015, which resulted in them being elevated to division 3 for the 2016 championships.

We started well with a 21 – 14 loss against eventual winners, Nambucca Valley, followed by a 17 – 9 win against Wollondilly. The last three games of the day were tough, but the girls never gave up and stayed competitive.
Day two showed mixed results, with wins over Tamworth and Griffith, and although going down to both South Canberra and Eurobodalla, we equalled their second half scores, showing that we had to work on the intensity of our game from the first centre pass.

Day three was a good day for the team, and although we didn’t record a win, we stayed competitive. Forbes 14 year representative team displayed great sportsmanship, determination and fair play and were a credit to themselves, their families and Forbes Netball Association. The girls and I would like to thank the parents for their support and assistance at carnivals and at State Age, making sure there was someone to score every game, keep water bottles filled and organise food for us after each game.

The team was selected in March, and has been training twice a week since selection, attending training carnivals, and playing in the open division of the local Saturday competition. These girls have also stepped up as role models to the younger players in the association by coaching a younger team, or umpiring the junior games.

By Robyn Kenny and Lyn Ford

Two teams of the Forbes Netball Association (FNA) are taking part in the Netball NSW State Age Championships this weekend. The 14 years representative team will compete in Division 3 and the 12 years representative team will compete in Division 4.

The State Age Championships is the biggest female sporting event in the southern hemisphere with more than 3, 000 athletes, 309 teams, 87 netball associations and more than 400 coaches and 500 umpires. The event has four age groups – 12s, 13s, 14s and 15s, competing at four venues, as the event is too large for one venue.

Division 1 will be played at Campbelltown, division 2 at Bankstown and divisions 3 and 4 at Illawarra. Teams will play an average of seven games each day over the three days of competition. The Forbes teams will be joined by a large supporters group of families and friends.

The teams would not be able to compete without the support of parents. Thank you to FNA Secretary, Lyn Ford, who has organised the weekend including accommodation, entries and food.

Three umpires from Bathurst and the Illawarra Association will join the Forbes players. The teams cannot compete without the umpires. Thank you to both Bathurst and Illawarra associations who have supported Forbes for the championships.

FNA umpire Leisa Kenny is one of the volunteers assigned to Division 2 at Bankstown on the Netball NSW Umpire Allocations Panel. The FNA committee wishes the representative teams good luck for the three
days of intense competition. “Play with determination, outstanding sportsmanship and great teamwork.”

The Forbes Netball Association held a very successful fundraiser last Saturday, as part of the Saturday competition. Funds were raised for The Kids Cancer Project, which is the charity of Netball NSW, where netball associations across the state get together for a day of fun and dress up to support the charity. Thank you to all the parents and
volunteers who cooked and donated at the canteen, and helped in many ways to make the day such an outstanding success.

Last year, 41 netball associations across the state including the FNA raised over $46,000 for The Kids Cancer Project, and this year the target is to raise over $50,000. The final total is still to be calculated for this year.

The theme for 2016 Forbes netballers was Crazy Vinnies day, where everyone was encouraged to dress up and have fun, playing netball and raising funds for a very worthwhile charity.

Prizes were awarded to the Best Dressed Vinnies team with the winner being the 13 years team of Pineapples. The Best Dressed players prizes were awarded to Emily Gartner (13 years) and Eliza Kerr (NetSetGo). A 100 Club was also drawn on the day with winners being number 9 Rel White; number 85 Adam White; number 40 Jessica Armitage; number 78 Nikky White; and number 74 P Greenhalge.