The Forbes Netball Association spring night competitions for both mixed and ladies teams came to an end last week when finals were played in both divisions.

The ladies final was very close throughout the full game, with the lead often changing and spectators kept on the edge of their seats, as they cheered on their favourite team.

The final result was Forbes Engineering 32 defeating Postie 31.

Forbes Engineering held a two goal lead at the end of the first quarter, winning it 10- 8, but Postie fought back in the second to even the scores at the half time break to 15 all.

Monique Point on led the way for Engineering, showing great vision in all areas. Lisa Drane and Carmen Jelbart also proved to have a big impact for their Engineering team.

The third quarter had Engineering ahead by two goals with Postie players Aurella White, Ellie Flick and Caitlin Duncan fighting hard for their team.

The lead changed many times and the final quarter was very exciting as both teams scored goal for goal.

Postie took the lead with a minute to go, but Engineering fought hard and regained the lead, finally scoring the winning goal with seconds to spare.

The experience of the Engineering team came through in the last minute but the young Postie team showed what they are capable of as they gain experience in tight games.

The final of the mixed competition was played between the new team of H & S and the younger team of Zenith.

The final result was Zenith 24 defeating H & S 10.

Zenith took an early lead in the first quarter winning it 5-2 and at half time increased by a goal to lead 10-7 with all players working hard.

The teenagers of Zenith showed great skills, led by Ellen McLinden who never gave up, setting a great example of determination and fighting spirit.

Will Driscoll of Zenith intercepted many passes and kept turning over the ball to his team. Krystal Girot, shooter for Zenith who is also coming back from 12 months of injury, showed all the skills she has learnt before her break.

H & S are a new team, with the men catching on to netball very early in the competition. The team was lead by Ness Campbell and Hannah Cudaj who never gave up trying.

Zenith took a commanding lead in the third quarter, winning by 18-8 and continued to increase the difference in the final quarter.

Congratulations to all the players whom showed outstanding sportsmanship throughout both final games.

Best and Fairest for the ladies competition was Alyssa Crowe from Golfie.

Best and Fairest for the mixed competition was Ellen McLinden from Zenith.

Dates have already been set for some events in 2018. The new Fast 5 night competitions for both mixed and ladies teams will run from mid February and all of March, and finish before Easter. The Forbes All Age regional carnival will be held on 6th May.

The Forbes and district primary schools gala day will be held on Monday, 5th March. The Saturday competition ‘Come and Try’ day will be held on 10th March. Regional League will be played in Orange on 25th February, 25th March and 15th April.

Netball Courses: There are many netball courses available on the NNSW website. These courses are available for any member to up-skill and update accreditation. Play By The Rules and the Australian Sports Commission also have courses available for updates.

The Spring Night competition finals will be played next week, 29th November. The finals will be played between the two top teams on the point score ladders. If the finals are cancelled due to rain, the teams that finished first on the ladder will be declared the winners.

There will be new forms available for netball to be played in 2018. Both Fast 5 and Walking Netball are being rolled out by NNSW in 2018, and the FNA will be participating in both.

Fast 5 will be played on Wednesday nights, from mid February and all of March 2018. Walking Netball will be played on Saturdays along with the normal 2018 Saturday competition.

Fast 5: Volunteers are still needed for the Fast 5 competition to be run. NNSW staff will come to Forbes and help and support the new committee. This competition will be run very differently to the normal netball competitions and a new committee must be formed. Anyone interested can email Tiff Nicholson at secretary.forbesnetball@gmail.com. There are many videos available on the game of Fast 5.
Representative and Assistant Coaches: Expression of interest are being called for representative coaches and assistant coaches for FNA teams competing in State Championships in 2018.

Suitable applicants will be allocated to teams that are formed. Anyone interested should contact Tiff Nicholson on above email. Coaches and assistant coaches will be supported if required.

The new Fast 5 committee is being formed. Anyone who would like to be on the committee should email Tiff Nicholson on secretary. forbesnetball@gmail.com.

The Fast 5 competition will be played on Wednesday nights, in mid February and all of March 2018, finishing at the Easter break.

New committee members will need to volunteer before the competition can run. The committee will have the help and support of Netball NSW staff, as this competition will be run very differently to any of the competitions played in the past.

Volunteers for the Fast 5 committee so far are: Jess Priest, Jack Piercy, Ellie Flick, Brianna Duncan, Jack Priest and Aurella White.

The Fast 5 committee has no age restrictions.It is however recommended that they currently be attending secondary school, to open men and women, which will be the playing age of the competition.

The FNA committee has also expressed interest with Netball NSW for the presentation of walking netball in 2018.

This will also be a fun and very different form of the game. More details will be made available as soon as the FNA is informed.

There will be no FNA meetings during December and January.

The very exciting Fast 5 Netball World Series was played in Melbourne last weekend with Australia taking a third place.

Fast 5 Netball will be coming to Forbes Netball Association (FNA) in February 2018.

The Fast 5 competition will take place at night from mid February and all of March 2018, finishing by Easter.

A new group of young volunteers must be formed as a committee to run the Fast 5 competition.

Many younger players have already shown interest in volunteering. Written nominations are called for and will close mid November. All nominations must be emailed to Tiff Nicholson at secretary.

forbesnetball@gmail.com.

Netball NSW representatives will be coming to Forbes to meet with the new Forbes Fast 5 committee, explaining how it all works, and how to run the competition.

Support will be given in all areas of running the new competition. Anyone interested in volunteering for the Forbes Fast 5 committee can speak to any of the FNA committee members.

This is an exciting new form of netball that Netball NSW is starting to roll out in 2018 and it can only be done in Forbes if there is a separate new committee to do the volunteering.

The Forbes Netball Association is calling for applications from netball players for the Open representative team to compete in the West/Central West Regional League 2018. The team will play in Orange one Sunday each month of February, March and April. Details at the office.

Nomination forms are on the FNA website, and must be emailed to the secretary, Tiff Nicholson on secretary.forbesnetball@gmail.com by Wednesday, 1st November 8pm.

The Open representative team is open to players turning 14 (2018), to open ladies. All players must be registered and have played in FNA competitions 2017, to be eligible to trial. Selection trials for the team will be held on 13th and 20th November at 6pm.

The Forbes Netball Association held three exciting grand finals last weekend to finish the Saturday competition season.

The Division 1 grand final saw Open Blacks winners over Hannah’s Team 34-24. The first quarter was even with Open Black ahead by one goal 7-6. Open Blacks had a swap around of positions, and Hannah’s won the second quarter 10-6. Open Black’s Kristy Butler, Monique Pointon and Ari Summa played well to help their team win the next quarter 16-4. Hannah Mattiske and Ruby Stitt lead the way for Hannah’s Team, supported by Biranna Duncan. Open Black used all their skill and experience to win against very determined teenagers.

The Division 2 grand final saw Magpies winners over Swifts 41- 18.

Magpies took an early lead in the first quarter winning 12-3. Swifts were on catch-up the rest of the game. The half time score was 21-6 to the Magpies. Magpies’ Ella Nicholls and Paige Britton led their team to victory supported by Lauren Bate. The third quarter saw the goal count very even, with Swifts winning the quarter 8-7. Emily Gordon and Emily Gartner had a great game for the Swifts. Magpies dominated the final quarter, winning 13-4, to take out the grand final game.

The Division 3 grand final saw Joeys winners over Possums 15- 9. The first quarter was very even with Joeys winning 3-2. At half time Joeys scored another three goals to lead 6-2. Centre Amelia Hodges, goal attack Andie Hodder and shooter Katie Crouch for Joeys where hard to stop. Ebonnie Hopley also played well for Joeys. Best players for Possums were Claire Turner and Jess Hoey, while Hannah Williams supported well.

Joeys grabbed another to win the third quarter 5-4, and the final quarter 4-3 for the grand final.

By Robyn Kenny

The Forbes Netball Saturday competition is drawing to a close with the last round of competition to be played this Saturday. The semi-final series will start with minor semi-finals in all divisions on August 5; major semi-finals on August 12; finals on August 19 and the grand finals and annual presentations on August 26.

Presentations will be held immediately after the last grand final games. All coaches are asked to nominate a player from their team for the judging of the Edna Jenkin Memorial Junior Encouragement Award, for players aged 11 and 12 years in 2017.

Nomination forms for this award are available at the office on Saturday. The award is for a player who has shown outstanding co-operation, enthusiasm and sportsmanship throughout the season. The Chris Read Memorial award will also be presented at this time. Everyone is invited to nominate a volunteer/helper, not a committee volunteer, who has helped whenever and where ever they are required, which is what Chris used to do when she was involved with the FNA.

Chris’ family wanted to continue, and acknowledge the volunteers, who worked like their mother had done in the past. Nomination forms for this award are available at the office on Saturday. This person does not have to be a registered member of the FNA, and anyone can nominate a volunteer. The nominations must be returned by August 5. The winners will be announced at the presentations.

The 2017 Representative presentations will be held at the Forbes Services Memorial Club on Saturday night August 19. Times will be 6:30pm for 7pm, with other details to be finalised.

Welcome back to Forbes Netball Saturday competition, after the school holiday break. There was very exciting news on the umpiring side for Forbes Netball over the school holidays, when Forbes NA umpire Aurella White was awarded her All Australia National B Umpire Badge at the Australian Invitational Youth Games at Maitland.

Aurella is one of the youngest umpires in the West/Central West Region, to be awarded her National B badge at the age of 14. The FNA Committee would like to congratulate Aurella, on this outstanding achievement. More news on Aurella’s journey in later editions.

Friday netball
Friday netball will continue today, from 5pm til 6pm for anyone who would like to join in the fun of skills and games. Players do not have to be registered for Saturday competition to play Friday netball, and the coaching is free to all participants.

Semi final rounds coming up
All coaches and players are reminded that the semi final series is coming up soon. Minor semis will be played on August 5, major semis will be played on August 12, finals will be played on August 19 and grand finals will be played on August 26.

Presentations will be held straight after the grand finals on August 26.