IAPS Netball Tournament - Under 13s

The girls arrived at The Banda in very good spirits, ready and excited to enjoy the day and determined to do well. Despite the cold weather, the warmth and enthusiasm that was felt within the team was remarkable.

The Braeburn 2nd team was pooled together with St Andrews Turi A, Kenton A and Banda B. 

Captained by Nia, the girls played really well with strong and positive encouragement to each other but the Turi A team emerged victorious. The pool was very challenging and the results did not go the team's way. However, the girls did well enough to proceed to the quarter finals where they played Hillcrest A. This was also a tough game for them and the Hillcrest proceeded to play for the plate.

The girls were very positive and displayed great attitude and character in all the games and throughout the day.

The Braeburn 1st team girls handled their preliminary matches with ease and precision, seeing off their opponents convincingly. They only conceded 5 goals during this stage, and that was against Pembroke in their final group match.

In the quarter finals, they breezed through the game against the Kenton 1st team with double digit goals and exceptional performances from every player. As expected, the further they progressed, the tougher the games became. Their semi-finals match was against a very skillful St Andrew’s side. It took a while for the girls to figure out the opponents set play, and once they did, they went ahead to display some outstanding netball in that match, setting the stage for the finals with The Banda.

The standard of play from both teams in the final was superb, with coaches of the other schools, as well as spectators, remarking on the high quality, being compared with senior level netball. It was a game of differing styles – Braeburn’s free-flowing, swift attack off a strong and determined defence against an efficient, effective, disrupting performance from The Banda. The match ebbed and flowed, each team leading and the other recovering, keeping the spectators on the edges of their seats and roaring on every score. When the final whistle blew The Banda had done just enough to take the win. Our girls had played their hearts out, representing Braeburn wonderfully, with every player contributing brilliantly to their performances. They stood to applaud The Banda when they were presented with the winning shield and took some important lessons from the tournament – sporting and life – to live and fight another day.

Lara Bailey was unanimously declared player of the tournament and she, Cara Kamora, Carla Kamora and Mariam Mohiddin-Jones were selected for the Nairobi Schools team to play the Up-Country Schools team in a couple of weeks.

Wonderful job 1st team!