NPL

London Pulse U15 Take Silver at School Games

Our youngest performance squad were in action this week competing in the National School Games Finals 2022.

11 teams were entered from the following netball Franchises:

  • Pulse
  • Manchester Thunder
  • Lough Lightning
  • Saracens Mavericks
  • Surrey Storm
  • Team Bath
  • Scotland
  • North East
  • Wasps
  • Leeds Rhinos
  • Severn Stars

The squad were very excited and settled into the Halls of Residence at Loughborough University. The Sir David Wallace Centre was where the action was staged and it was a great opportunity to welcome parents and fans back to performance netball also.

Day 1:

Pulse played Severn Stars in their first match, the players were very nervous as none had ever competed in this type of competition before. It was a tightly contested match with Pulse taking the win 23-21.  POM – Daisy Beer

Next up were Wasps – the squad were more confident in their connections for this match and we won 28-15, with some amazing transition play and shooting in the game. POM Zaneya Cunningham

Pulse then played a friendly match v Manchester Thunder which enabled all of the squad of 12 to get match play on day 1. POM Amreet Saraw

In the evening we attended the opening ceremony of the games, we heard opening speeches and a band and we went on a parade around the campus.

Day 2:

First up was Pulse v Leeds and the squad put a strong performance in to take the win 34-21. This win meant that we had qualified for the semi finals with a game to spare. The players and staff were so excited! POM Coco Williams

Our last pool match was v Manchester Thunder. They were very strong and a really tough opponent – they took the win 32-13. POM Ella- Rose Bloomfield Bowmaker

We had to pick ourselves up for the semi final match v Bath in the afternoon, and what a match it was!!

By this time, it’s worth mentioning we had two injuries in the squad – one broken finger and one whiplash injury. Both players are ok!

The start v Bath was outstanding – the speed of play and the interceptions were too much for Bath to cope with and we went out to 10-2 lead in the first quarter. We kept the performance level up for the whole match and took a huge win 34-17! POM Brogan Bostock

London Pulse have never made the top 4 in this competition so to be in the final was so exciting.

Finals Day

We gave everything to try and beat Thunder but they were too strong. We had some flashes of excellent play, but couldn’t compete consistently enough – They took the title!

It was a very proud moment for us to win Silver for the club.

8 of the squad are young enough to compete again next year…….so we are going for the Gold!