Icknields Story
Following qualification for the East Regional Championships back in November, the girls at Icknield have been training hard. Icknield has a proud netball pedigree, winning many County Championships in the past. However in recent times the standard of players has not been so high & they have not qualified for the East Regional Championships for over 10 years, so why the change in fortune for the current crop of players? Sue Fenn Curriculum Leader of PE & Coach to the U16 team explains why.
As a result of many revamped & extended opportunities through the now defunct School Sports Partnership projects most of the girls have had the opportunity to play & develop their netball both in school & in community clubs over the last 5 years. Inter school competitions have been an excellent proving ground for this group of talented youngsters and in the last few years the Luton Schools` leagues have gone from strength to strength. Several players benefit from county coaching, academy coaching & most play in the Luton Clubs leagues for local teams 7-Up and Luton Tornadoes. Goal Shooter Ebony Leon plays basketball in Houghton Regis & is hoping to win a scholarship to the USA when her exams are over. Sue Fenn added “I have been really lucky to take the team on, much of the hard work put in earlier in their school career by former coaches has given me a team who are adaptable, knowledgeable & above all committed to improvement. Which is useful as my background is more hockey coaching than netball! My thanks must go to Leanne Clarke (now teaching in Bangkok, Louise Robertson who has returned to Sydney and Claire Murphy (Wyvern Grainger’s & Cardinal Newman School) for gifting me these players!”
Icknield were undefeated in the Luton league and at the county tournament in Bedford things really came together. Finishing top of their pool they faced Harlington in the semis. “Coming from behind to tie the game at the final whistle was amazing. A short period of extra time allowed us to win by 2!” said Sophie Bird (WD). In the final Icknield came up against a strong Bedford Girls side & deservedly lost.
Captain - Katie McMillan said “everyone is really excited about January 28th and has been putting in extra hours of training.” Shareen Mohammed (GA) added “Icknield is well known for sports around Luton & Bedfordshire, now we need to see how we get on at the next stage”
Another Bedfordshire volunteer stalwart, Phyllis Charles has been helping out with umpiring & will be the Icknield scorer on the day. Her words of wisdom, add much to the team “she really helped me when I was struggling to work out how to mark an opponent one day” said Demi Akinrowo (def)
Anya Lotay (aka Spud) attributes much success to the netball tour the team went on Last year to Torquay. ' Bringing together girls from 2 year groups can be tricky, but staying away with everyone for a weekend really helped us to gel'
Next September Icknield are embarking on a tour with both U14 & U16 teams. Let's hope the current squad of girls can pass on the taste of success to the year groups coming up through the school. Who knows, we might make a habit of coming back to the East!!!