16-08-08

Stokes Valley 1 lost this week, the girls played Maoribank. The game was not the best game they had ever played. The final score was 30-10.
The team had five of its players and borrowed Jenni and Renee who were due to have a Saturday off. Defence (Jenni and Renee) worked hard to put the pressure on the opposition although the shooting just wasn’t on.
This week, the Player of the Day was the girls who filled in to help us out, Jenni and Renee. Congratulations and thank-you for filling in, in the defence end of the court on Saturday. A special thank-you for coming down to the courts at 8.30am in the morning when you could have had that Saturday off.

26-07-08

A good effort from Stokes Valley 1 against Hutt Valley Marist on Saturday considering the pressure to win was high and we were missing our most valuable player (Manu). The competition was well matched and we knew the game would be a close one but thought we would be up by 6 points rather than down by 6 points at the end of the game.
The team had a lot of changes and position movements as we tried our best to get a good combination. Defence ran really well with Renee Wonnacott and Rebekah Fayen exploding with energy and constantly moving to put the pressure on the opposition. The mid-court flowed well as Renee Mills and Stephanie Barnden followed through to ensure the safe delivery to the shooters. And the shooters were moving well and finishing off. Overall it was a well-matched game and commendable effort by the girls this week.
This week, the Player of the Day was me (Jess Thompson) but I think it was a really good effort from all of the girls and we were all deserving of this acknowledgement.
Thank you, Renee Wonnacott for helping us out. And also thank you to all of our supporters who showed up to cheer us on, especially Haupai who volunteered to take the score for the match. Much appreciated.
This week we will be playing our last game of the round!!! This match will decide what place we are playing for over the next few weeks. Keep your chin up girls

12-07-08 (Renee)

The weather provided an added challenge for our game against Rimutaka, but we came away with a well deserved win.
Jess swapped ends this week, and did an awesome job with Kristelle in the shooting circle. The midcourt did well to get the ball down the court despite a slippery ball, some manouvering (or not) around huge puddles, and rain lashing at your face. Manu played outstanding as usual on defence, putting pressure on the opposition shooters.
Thanks to Bec and Renee who filled in for us, combining well with Manu in the defence circle.
Player of the day went to Renee Nixon, who had an awesome game in defence (even though it was her second game for the day).
Despite the conditions, it was an all round team effort this week and the win keeps us in contention for the top four.

05-07-08

It just wasn't our day. We played Maoribank who we had convincingly beaten in the first round. We seemed to be fighting an uphill battle from the first whistle.
Despite the absence of Manu, Jess had a great game in the defence circle, up until she had to come off with an injury, and our POD Tanya had an awesome game in the WD position. Thanks to our much appreciated fill-ins Teeze, Bec and Michelle for helping out.

28-06-08

We played Legends on Saturday and unfortunately lost by 11. They are a tall team with a lot of skill but we seemed to forget the basics when we needed it most.
Player of the day went to Manu who consistently puts her body on the line to win the ball in defence. Awesome stuff.
Hopefully we all learnt something from the game to put it into practice next week...we can do it girls! Should be an interesting game this week vs Maoribank!

21-06-08

Terrible! I know I encourage positive stuff in these reports but honestly this game was the worst we have had all season. Naenae are a very good team but we made it far too easy for them. As always the defence girls played a great game - Use girls do so well, claiming so much ball its just unfortunate we are unable to score points from every ball you girls claim. Let's just hope we have a better game/result against Legends.

07-06-08 (Jess)

Stokes Valley 1 played Hutt Valley Marist on Saturday. The win was very close. The opposition was both good sports and good competition, Hutt Valley Marist definitely put up a fight. Stokes Valley ending the game with a 24-21 win.
The mid-court worked hard to get the ball into the shooting end of the circle and the shooters had an extra hard job trying to get the ball through the hoop whilst Mother Nature threw gusty wind, wet weather and cold frosts their way. The defence end of the court held up well gaining plenty of turnovers and putting the pressure on the shooters.
This week, the Stokes Valley Rugby Club Player of the Day went to both Manu Karehana and myself (Jess Thompson) for our joint efforts in the defence end of the court.
Thank you to our supporters that sat in the frosty cold weather.
The team is looking forward to next week when we play a team who sit at the top of the ladder with no losses. This will be a challenging game and I wish I could be there girls!
Good luck and Go hard!

24-05-08

10-05-08

We took the court on Saturday after a good warm up ready to face Maoribank.
The first quarter went really well with our team dominating, winning the ball and finishing off with good goals and movement in the goal circle.

Second quarter was much the same with play flowing nicely down the court. Moaribank managed to catch up in the third quarter and we scored the same amount of goals - (maybe a little dodgy scoring?!).

The last quarter started well but didn't last for long. One of the Moaribank girls was sent off for abusing the umpire which upset their fellow team members. Play resumed only to have some of the Maoribank girls taking it out on our players and trying to start a fight. Unfortunately the game was then called off (with about 3 minutes to go).

We still came away with the win 35 - 21 so it was a good win despite the bad ending!
A good first win girls, let's keep it up!

03-05-08

A good effort from Stokes Valley 1 against Legends on Saturday considering this was the second game of the season and the girls have not yet played with a full team on board yet.

It was an awesome game, definitely had fun and enjoyed it which helped to comfort the fact we lost by only 5 points. The leadership of the game by captain/coach (Steph) was the main reason players were able to focus on the job at hand. Defence dominated their end of the court ensuring that each and every opportunity to take the ball was used. The mid-court flowed nicely and the shooters worked the circle well. Overall, players had fun and good game had by all.

This week, the shining star was Tanya Henderson, earning her Stokes Valley Rugby Club Player of the Day wine glass and a big pat on the back for her efforts helping the mid-court bring the ball down and giving 110% on defence. Shot Tanz!

Thank you, Kiri who gave up playing for her own team on Saturday and stepped up to help out Stokes Valley 1. And also thank you to all of our supporters on the sideline that stayed through the not-so-nice weather to cheer us on.

This week we will have a full squad ready to take the court and hopefully come away with a success!!!

26-04-08

The girls had a challenging game to begin the netball year, facing a team they had repeatedly lost to in the previous season. The team spent the first quarter working out their own side's strengths and weaknesses, with a number of new players and a much-appreciated stand-in by Michelle (Last name?).
Both sides fought hard for possession during the remaining quarters, however unforced errors proved to be the difference between the two teams with Naenae eventually winning the game by 3 points.
Stand out players were Manu Karehana and Michelle who both had an excellent game in the defensive circle, working hard to shut down the Naenae shooters