Thankyou to everyone that trialed this year & congratulations to the following players.

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Indoor Netball NSW would like to thank Nicole Sumner, Tournament Director for her assistance with the 2010 Aged Nationals.

Special appreciation to our hard working Sports Trainers -

Katie de Luca, Lorenzo Campagna, Phillip Graziano, Matt P, and the students from Macquarie University School of Chirporactic.

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2009 Indoor Netball Open Nationals

by Lauren Kitchener

I was lucky enough to attend the 2009 Open Nationals as a player in the Open Mixed team.  The competition was held from Sunday 4^th - Saturday 10^thOctober at ICA Sportzworx Windsor Gardens, SouthAustralia.  Arriving at the courts on the first day there was such a buzz in the air.  For me it was it was a mixture of excitement, anticipation and a fair bit of nerves.  As the centre began to fill up with players, officials and spectators from all different states it was so cool to see the reuniting of friends that happens at this tournament every year (which is one of the best things about Indoor Netball Nationals - the friendships you make and the people you meet over the years).

All the states gathered together for the opening ceremony. This was conducted on just a slightly smaller scale than the one held for the Olympics...Okay, okay a lot smaller!!.  The Australian National anthem was sung followed by the South Australian President Mick Miller announcing the 2009 Open Netball National tournament open.

The teams took the court for Round One, and as the first whistle was blown the centre erupted with the sounds of players talking on court, encouragement from the team benches, the umpires keeping the game under control, the supporters cheering on the quality netball they were seeing and the general chatter that is generated by having that many people in an indoor centre. The 2009 Indoor Netball Open Nationals was definitely under way.

The first round of competition brought some fantastic wins, some close finishes and some excellent netball.  The games were hard, fast paced and exciting.  The New South teams showing early on that they were there to play and set to give the competition a shake in all divisions.

The camaraderie within the 2009 NSW Open squad was evident from the beginning.  No matter what New South game I was at there were always members of one or more of the other NSW teams sitting on the sidelines cheering and supporting the teams.  I really think the support shown from all teams throughout the week was undoubtedly a huge contributing factor to the New South Wales overwhelming success this year.

New South Wales 21/Under

What a talented group of young ladies we had in this team.  There were a number of girls returning from last year's team and a few fresh new faces making up this year's 21/Under team.  With only one team being sent away for 21's this year, the 2 teams that played against each other at last years Nationals were this year mixed together to form a very strong and competitive team.  They showed from the very beginning they wanted to win and they had all the fundamental parts to do it.  The girls went through the first round undefeated and it was seen from the very beginning they would be going toe to toe with Queensland for the trophy.  It was always such a good contest to watch!!  They were a lovely group of girls who were all very talented players and when put together made a talented team.

New South Wales Open Ladies

The ladies team this year was a mixture of new and returning players.  With the foundation of the team unchanged and the success this team has experienced over the past couple of years, they always had their eyes set on the major prize - to win the National Title back from Queensland.  The ladies team had a number of very close and hard fought wins through the week, but none as exciting and close as the final.  With everything riding on the final place into the Grand Final the ladies put together a wonderful win against South Australia.  With scores even as the final whistle blew, it was going to take extra time to separate these 2 teams. After such a long and tiring week, the New South Wales ladies took their game to the next level and put together a wonderful 10 minutes of netball to take the game and grab the final position into the Grand Final, with the support of the other New South teams going crazy on the side line.

New South Wales Open Men's

The 2009 Men's team this year displayed a number of new faces.  Being the rookie year for most of the guys, these Nationals were always going to be challenge.  But this group of guys took the challenges in their stride.  The guys came up against some very tough competition and some experienced teams who had been playing together for many years.  But no matter what the score line the boys still gave 150% every time they stepped onto the court. They kept coming back and playing every game with every bit of enjoyment a game of indoor netball is meant to play in.  Being such a young team I see so much potential for this group of guys and am sure that if they continue to come back they are going to be a force to contend with in future years.

New South Wales Open Mixed

This was the most A-Mazinggroup of people I have I had the pleasure to play with.  It is an honour to say I was able to be part of this team and I mean 'team' in every sense of the word.  Bothon and off the court this group of guys and girls laughed together, hung out together, talked together and had an incredible week together.  Everyone from the players to the coaches to the managers worked together and made it one of the most fun, enjoyable, and successful weeks of indoor netball I have played in.  It was so fantastic to see that no matter who took the court, in whatever position, there was always encouragement, sharing ideas on what had worked and what hadn't.  There was never any separation between the players or team, and the amount of friendships, fun, stories and memories that we came away with could never have a price put on them.

GRAND FINAL

I woke up on the morning of the Grand Final with a mixture of excitement and a whole lot of butterflies fluttering around in my stomach.  The realization hit me that my team, in only a couple of hours, was going to take the court in the Grand Final, for the decider!!!  The feeling I had knowing that we had gone against all odds and made the Grand Final was such an incredible feeling.

It was great knowing that with Indoor Netball being a team sport I wasn't on my own. Knowing that I had such a wonderful group of players and people around me, and that today we were going to take on Victoria in the Grand Final, and win or lose, after the game I would be celebrating a wonderful week with all my team mates. That was an incredible feeling.  We had done absolutely everything we possibly could to prepare for this moment and now all we had to do was get out on court and give it everything we possibly had left, and just play.

NSW made it to the Grand Final in the 21's, Ladies and Mixed, and I am sure that there were many other New South Welshmen feeling as I was that morning.

The bus trip to the courts that day was one of the loudest, funniest, and craziest bus trips of the week.  With our team song for the week "Get Low" pumping through the bus by the time we arrived at the courts everyone got off the bus with a bop to their step, and a few dance moves were on display.  Walking into the centre that day was different again from the beginning of the week, it was an unreal feeling, and the atmosphere inside was electric.

Looking down the side of the courts there was a sea of blue, the men's team were all sitting there withblue face paint, blue wigs, blue shirts, signs, and netball dresses.  The boys certainly looked the part with their sign that read "Add me to Facebook" in hand. They were warming up their voices with some of their songs and dance moves. They were ready to help New South Wales over the line.  The encouragement, support and cheering was unlike anything I have seen from New South Wales teams in many years.  Their support was absolutely fantastic and made all of our teams playing in the Grand Final feel just that little bit more excited. They made everyone smile, they calmed a few nerves, and encouraged us to get out there and give it their all.

21/Under Ladies Grand Final - New South Wales were playing Queensland.  New South had finished on top of the table at the end of the rounds, but made it to the Grand Final the hard way, via the preliminary final. It was always going to be a tough match with both New South and Queensland winning 2 games each during their 4 previous meetings. The game was goal for goal from the very first whistle.  It was a tough contest with some big hits, fast paced netball, and a lot of passion.  Unfortunately New South couldn't hold Queensland off and narrowly went down to Queensland by 3 goals after a gallant effort.

21/Under Grand Final

Queensland (47) Defeated New South Wales (44)

Open Mixed Grand Final - Today we were taking on Victoria after narrowly beating Qldby a single goal in the final.  Throughout the rounds against Victoria, it has always been close, most games it was only 2 or 3 goals separating the teams.  The teams were called out and the National anthem was played, bothteams shook hands and went back to the team huddle, withfinal words from coach and probably the loudest group chant we had done all week.  Taking the court for that game with the support from our team and all the New SouthWales supporters was such a fantastic feeling and the adrenaline definitely kicked in.  We played the Grand Final withthe same game plan as the rest of the week, cool as ice in attack and fired up in defence.  Victoria took the early lead and went 8 goals up.  With the same patience and team work we had used all week we were able to pull it back to 4 going into the last quarter.  All the visualisation Dave Huey (one of our coaches) had taken us through during our pool sessions this week, made sense. As the opportunities presented themselves our team took them and we made it back to even, and eventually took the lead by 2 goals.  The next 5 or so minutes it went goal for goal and we were able to keep our heads, working the ball down the court and into our shooters who did a wonderful job of putting the ball through the ring. We knew the end was near when the third umpire stood up to signal time, and when the full time whistle blew -  we had done it, we had beaten Victoria - with the score board reading New South Wales 42 Victoria 41.

The next few minutes were such a surreal feeling - the excitement of a win, with everyone jumping, hugging and sharing in the disbelief of coming back from 8 goals down to take the game by 1.  Having some of our big guys with tears in their eyes - you knew from that moment it really meant a lot to every single person who was part of the team, whether it was their first year or their 20^th year.  It was a win that showed that if a team is close off the court, it will reflect in their play on the court. It was a win that showed that if a team believes nothing is impossible, no matter the odds, that team can pull off a win against a quality team such as Victoria.  The game was such a great game to be a part of, it was played hard, friendships were put on hold as you stepped onto the court and for the next hour it was game on. The game was played in such a fantastic manner and the sportsmanship between bot