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Finborough
Ladies Netball Club
Club & Social News
The Community Schools support Finborough Ladies NC
The Community Schools are pleased to support Finborough Ladies Netball Club.
We are a local Community Interest Company (not for profit) tutoring school.
Founded 15 years ago by Claire, a lifelong Netball Player who started with Kent Schools County team and now loves to be part of the Finborough Ladies Walking Netballers.
The Community Schools is a cooperative of experienced and successful classroom teachers who enjoy their teaching and strive to help each of their tutees to gain confidence and succeed at or beyond their potential.
We are delighted to support Netball in our local community.
Visit www.thecommunityschools.co.uk
For useful tips, free resources and updates on our tutoring please follow us...
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The Community Schools Small Group Tuition & Online Tutoring Support
The Community Schools CIC is a not-for-profit cooperative of qualified teachers dedicated to providing safe and affordable access to the highest quality tutoring according to needs that are not properly satisfied by the education system.
Flo Clarke selected for Mavericks!
A huge congratulations to Florence Clarke, who plays for our Kestrels team in the first division, for being selected for Saracens Mavericks. The only player from Suffolk to have achieved this, Flo will be travelling to Hertfordshire for her training sessions and is very much looking forward to getting started!
Another of our young and talented players with so much potential and who we are proud to have in our FLNC family - we don't mind sharing you with the Mavs, Flo! ;)
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#LoveFLNC #BeAMaverick
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Finborough Ladies Walking Netballers Strike Again!
"What an amazing day at the Walking Netball Tournament in Cambridge with Finborough the only team from Suffolk. We had a squad of 10 players with me being the coach, 7 matches of 10 mins one way with roll on and roll off subs.
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The WN ladies were very nervous and really not sure what to expect. I didn’t either, but told the ladies to just go out there and enjoy themselves! We have only been together since September 2022 with new ladies joining us each week! With young Evie as our Captain for the day, I must say, every player did themselves proud!
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The first game was vs. Monday Marvels (Beds) and we got off to a great start by beating them 5-3. This settled some nerves and we went on to win the next game against Funderboltz (Herts) 8-0! We were absolutely buzzing by our third game, which turned out to be a very close match against Bushy Hearts (Herts), pipping them to the post at 3-2 and putting our feet firmly back on the ground having to work really hard to get that win.
The fourth game was vs. Swans WN Team (Essex) which we won 7-0 win, then it was Leighton Buzzard WN (Beds) where we gave our best performance winning 9-1! We had two matches to play and having watched them we knew they were going to be the toughest.
First up were Silsoe Scorpions (Beds). We fully utilised the roll off / roll on subs for this match and I couldn’t watch! It was going goal for goal for some time before our defence got an interception and brought the ball back down the court to score the winning goal, finishing 7-6!
Our last match was against Finborough’s rivals Thetford (Norfolk), who had brought along a Regional player as their GA. She was clearly their key player who they looked for all the time; so our defence's aim was to stop her getting into the D and, recalling Donna’s training the previous week, they did an amazing job in shutting the opposition's star player down! I think this match was probably the team's best game, the ball flowed down the court into the shooters who were scoring every time. We came out with that all-important win 8-1!
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Winning the tournament, we kept a clean sheet the whole day and didn't lose one match - what a great achievement, all the ladies were buzzing!
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The squad had 3 shooters, Pat, Miranda and Evie. 4 court players, Claire, Ruth, Leanne and Jo and in defence Gabby, Maggie J and Dawn. You all did an amazing job; you played some great netball, had fun... and a wiggle and a giggle! I'm one super proud coach!"
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Hazel Paige
Coach
Finborough Ladies Walking Netballers
"Our new walking netball sessions started in September 2022 with just a handful of ladies who some had never played netball before and the others hadn't played since school. The ladies have gone from just 6 players, to now having 18 turn up regularly to play sessions, followed by tea and homemade cake.
On 23rd February, we decided to enter our newly established team into a tournament held at Ipswich School Sports Centre. The ladies were a bit apprehensive about playing other walking netball teams, but they took it in their stride.
Wow, did they look the part... I think the opposition thought we were very professional! Having a squad of 10 players, we were able to mix in and out each game with myself coaching and umpiring. Chloe came along to support her Mum, Carol, and take some fantastic photos for us. Tanya also joined as scorer and supporter to both her Mum, Fran - the oldest of the ladies in the team - along with her daughter (Fran's granddaughter) Kaitlyn, who has been attending the walking netball sessions to get back on the court following her ACL injury. We also had Chloe Anderson's Mum join us to support and time the games. Tanya did a great job scoring.
We played 5 x 10 minute games; Pat was on fire getting in the shots from the edge of the circle with Carol doing some fab passes in and out to get herself closer and feeding the ball to Pat. Maggie WA and Claire C were intercepting passes up and down the court with Ruth, Sarah, Kaitlyn and Fran doing the same job when they came on.
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Maggie and Dawn in defence were marking really well which forced the opposition to miss shots and they brought the ball down the court fantastically to give us the opportunity to score goals.
The team were on a high after winning the tournament 17-10 and I was proud of every single lady. They have improved so much since the beginning and it was an absolute pleasure to be involved in the day, great fun was had by all!
We then went upstairs for tea and cake, with Donna Finch (NDO) presenting the team with a cup and a medal each.
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Bring on the next tournament in March where we are off to Cambridge to play in the East Walking Netball Wiggle and Fun Day!"
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Hazel Paige
Coach/Umpire
Mixed Netball Tournament
On Sunday 5th February the newly formed Finborough Mixed Netball Team, Finborough Firebirds, took to the courts at Needham Market in their very first Mixed Netball Tournament, organised by Netball In Suffolk. FLNC's Mixed Netball Co-ordinator and team Captain, Dani Osborn reports...
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The day consisted of 7 mini games, 12 minutes one way. The sun was shining & 6 members of FLNC enlisted the help of their partners & brothers to take on 7 other teams from Suffolk, Norfolk & Essex.
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We were facing teams who play mixed netball competitively and teams who just entered for fun. Our first game wasn’t easy, coming up against Suffolk Comets who play regularly. Despite this, we came flying out of the blocks & took an early lead. A few footwork calls against our new-to-netball males gave Comets the possession they needed to pull the game back level, before the final whistle blew! A good start to the morning, but we were disappointed as we knew we could have won the game!
We took this determination into our next two games against teams who had just entered for fun. Laughs were had and we were able to coach the guys whilst still getting the wins in! On a high, we took on our toughest opposition yet - Suffolk Meteors. It was clear very quickly that they were a well established team who were talented in every area of the court. Caught a little off-guard by the physicality that they bought, we just couldn’t adapt in the little time we had, but we learnt a lot from this game.
This set us up nicely for our contest with Phoenix, a mixed netball club who play competitively in Norfolk. It was clear when we watched their games earlier in the day, they were very much a team who were in it to win it, so we really wanted to push them. And that we did! They were caught off-guard early by our speed in attack and our ball-hungry defenders. Phoenix were guilty of not taking their feet to the ball & Firebirds pounced. They did not adapt and Finborough won the game - one of our finest performances of the day! We went on to win our other two matches, overall finishing the tournament with 5 wins & 1 defeat.
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Safe to say it was a success for our first Mixed Netball competition!
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Thank you to all the players who took part, Aisha, Maddie, Beth, Chrissy, Jen, Max, Jason, Josh & Martin - as well as our fab umpire, Amy B!
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Solo Session training with Kadeen Corbyn
On Monday 13th February we welcomed Superleague netball star and England Rose Kadeen Corbyn to the club as part of the solo sessions coaching team.
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With some music on to bring the energy up the girls were put through their paces working on their dexterity and ball handling, with balls weaving through legs, super quick hands and waist orbits.
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With a focus on always having two offers in attack, Kadeen got to work making the girls focus on using their peripheral vision to pass and receive in quick succession. After a couple of attempts and some hard concentration, the girls were nailing the patterns and picking up the pace.
Next on the agenda was front cuts and back cuts to move around defenders and become free. Critical skills for any attacker. We then built up patterns of play across the whole court in groups. This really got the cogs turning and made the girls really think about the ball taking the quickest route to goal; by keeping the ball moving directly forwards and by always being available for a lateral ball or diagonal balls.
By the end of the session the girls left with an embedded mantra that whilst lateral balls are a back up, they are sometimes absolutely essential.
We finished the session with some Q+A, with Kadeen telling us what sort of data is recorded during training, some of her favourite Coaches that she's worked with and her predictions for this vitality netball season!
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The girls loved this opportunity and gained loads from it. Well done to all who attended.
Solo Session training with Jodie Gibson
On 6th September, Finborough Ladies welcomed international and super league player Jodie Gibson to their home courts for a Solo Session training night. Jodie was part of the England squad that won gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and at club level, she represents Saracens Mavericks in defence. The session consisted of a warm-up and balls skills; technical netball coaching; match application, bringing together the skills we’d learnt during the night and, lastly, an informal Q & A with photos, selfies and signing.
A fantastic ambassador for netball and women’s sport, Jodie invested so much contagious energy into the training session and her results-driven focus ensured all the drills were completed with maximum effectiveness - and fun! The informal and intimate setting of the session enabled the Finborough players to ask questions along the way, in order to fully understand and apply the skills they’d learnt. The Club plans to build on the skills learnt by hosting further Solo Sessions for Finborough members, as we continue to develop and raise the level of our competitive game.
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Walking Netball
Finborough Ladies NC will be hosting a Walking Netball session every Wednesday 9:15 to 10:15am, taking place at Needham Market Community Centre, IP6 8BB. It’s £5.00 to take part which includes delicious cake and refreshments.
The sessions are specially designed by our coaches to be super welcoming and largely follow the same formats as any other netball session – including a warm-up, mini-games and drills followed by a friendly game. Women across the country have started playing Walking Netball for the fun, laughter and camaraderie the social session brings, as much as the health benefits on offer!
If you’re interested in taking part, you can contact the coach Donna Cooper at dor@hartismere.com to register your interest.
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Monkeying around
Finborough Ladies have found a great use for their old netballs, by donating them to the animals at Colchester Zoo!
Once the season is finished and our netballers have finished monkeying around with the older netballs, they are delivered to the Zoo for the chimpanzees to enjoy, as part of their enrichment programme.
We’re told the chimps go bananas for our old netballs and have hours of fun throwing and kicking them around.
Could this be the beginning of the first animal netball league… you heard it here first!
If you would like to donate your netballs to Colchester Zoo for the animals to enjoy, please contact us at info@finborough-netball.com to arrange.
Mavericks Futures Squad - Player of the Season
Attending the end of season meal with the Mavericks Futures Squad, our very own Maddie Chenery (pictured) was awarded Player of the Season by her coaches, winning a Mavericks dress, signed by all the players. We are so proud of all she has achieved in her netball journey so far, with the support of everyone at Finborough Ladies Netball Club and her Mavericks coaches.
Congratulations Maddie, we know this is just the beginning of a very bright netballing future… we’ll be rooting for you and keeping everything crossed for the U19 trials in September.
Maddie Chenery (right)
Finborough Ladies play East Regional Senior League play-offs
A huge moment for Finborough Ladies Netball Club, making the club’s first ever appearance at the East regional play offs at Bedford Academy, having won the new Suffolk Sunday League. This was the highest level at which the club has ever competed and the girls did us proud!
The standard of netball was excellent throughout and although we finished 5th out of 6 teams; there were so many closely contested games, fantastic plays down court and lots of learning that we can’t wait to put into action ready for next time!
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A special thank you to all the supporters on the day and of course our wonder-coach, Hazel, whose fierce and energetic support and coaching on the day and up to this point has meant everything to the squad. Hazel really is the 8th player on that court and we couldn't have asked for a better mentor.
Left to right: Esme Springham, Becky Barker, Heidi Thornton, Becky Stewart, Aisha Williams, Suzi Card, Jen Edwards, Emily Phillips (C), Florrie Grigg-Pettitt, Maddie Chenery, Kim Row, Holly Phillips, Hazel Paige (Coach)
Finborough A Team wins the Suffolk Sunday League
Congratulations to Finborough A team on winning the first ever season of the new Suffolk County Senior League!
A super performance all season, losing only one match and scooping the top position from runners up Thetford NC; they now qualify to compete in the East Regional Senior League playoffs. Jo Chenery, who has been supporting the team all season, reports…
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"What a fantastic day for Finborough Ladies Netball Club. The final fixtures in the New Suffolk County League were played this morning in the lush sunshine. Finborough A firstly took on The Suffolk RAMS, followed by the long awaited regional playoff decider against Thetford. To say the Finborough ladies were pumped is an understatement. They knew they needed to smash the first game to give them as much goal difference as possible going into the decider against the Norfolk Blues!! With only a squad of 8, clever, clean play and tactical use of that extra player in both games was essential.
Finborough blasted out of the blocks against RAMS, racking up the goals with some brilliant play throughout the court. Needless to say, taking the win 49-20 filled our ladies with confidence and gave them a chance to work on some of the set plays they would be utilising in the next game against Thetford. With nerves settled and the team having gelled nicely, there was a frantic, quick turn-around to get ready for the match of the year so far!
And what can I say….. WOW WOW WOW!! From the first whistle to the final bell, the Finborough players wanted their win. Going 5 goals up in the first few minutes I could only just contain my excitement on the side line! I knew at this point Finborough had it in the bag. They were the dominant team throughout the match with Thetford trailing behind, trying to claw back goals! Jen, Kirsty and Becks were absolutely insane as a defensive unit, working together with such cohesion that the Thetford shooters just couldn’t break through. The combination of Suzi, Beth and Emily in centre court brought the ball smoothly through to Maddie and Aisha, who found their mojo together and were on fire!! Whistle for the end of the first half blew - the score 22-12 to Finborough.
Left to right: Esme Springham, Maddie Chenery, Jen Edwards, Suzi Card, Aisha Williams, Emily Phillips (C), Kirstie Moore, Becky Barker, Poppy Hudson
By this point the players, having already played a full game, were starting to feel the fatigue. However, they knew it was now or never, this was their chance to take the win and put Finborough in the Regional play offs! With an excellent team talk from Emily… to stay calm, drive through for the ball and slightly adjust timing, the players had just 20 minutes of hard work ahead of them to take the win. They knew they could do it!
The second half of this nail biter did not disappoint the supporters on the side lines, who continued to encourage and shout for Finborough right through to the final whistle. Finborough were becoming tired in the last few minutes making a few unforced errors, but their heads did not drop… with no fresh legs to bring on they had no choice but to dig deep and keep fighting. And FIGHT they did! The final whistle blew and Finborough A team had done it - taking the WIN 35-23!!!
What an outstanding performance by this team today… you should all be so proud of yourselves. So, with the win today both Finborough and Thetford, now on equal points at the top of the table need to wait with baited breath to find out who will go through to the Regional play offs on goal difference. We are all keeping everything crossed but no matter what the result, Finborough now know they are a team who are a force to be reckoned with!"
Easter Family Fundraiser
On Monday 11th April, FLNC hosted an Easter Family Fundraiser which saw our young players taking on their mothers, fathers, siblings & friends in a fun and friendly tournament.
The five teams taking part were the 'Crazy Cats', 'Chicken Nuggets', 'Awesome Angels', 'Pigeons' and '5 & Not So Alive…' and with an impressively competitive contingent of underdogs from the parents and siblings who came along, the competition was fierce!
After twenty games of fast paced and highly spirited netball, the overall winners of the evening were the Pigeons, who achieved a perfect score by winning all their matches!
A special mention and a very well done to young Toby, who won the Player of the Night by unanimous decision.
Thank you to all those who kindly donated delicious chocolate treats towards the Easter Egg Raffle to round off the evening!
A very big thank you to Dawn, who umpired all games without a break! - and to Beckie and Tanya for organising such a fun and successful evening, which was thoroughly enjoyed by all and raised a whopping £253 towards our Club's next chosen charity.
Lastly, a special thank you to our Club Chair Hazel and her contagious enthusiasm for not only the game of netball; but for the fun and community our Club provides to its members at all levels and of all ages.
#loveFLNC
On Sunday 14th November, FLNC entered two teams, the Finborough Giants and the Finborough All-Stars, into the Suffolk Mixed Netball Festival held at Ipswich School Sports Centre.
It was a fabulously well organised event which saw 8 teams battle it out all morning to reach the top four spots for the final play-offs.
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Both Finborough teams arrived early to have a quick practise session on the spare courts... & make sure the boys knew the rules (ish!)
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It seemed our keen bean approach (and clever basketballer-focused recruitment methods) paid dividends; as both teams reached the top two spots, having not lost a single match! Whilst the two Finborough teams sized each other up, they realised that they each had one game in hand... to play each other in a pre finals show-down! It was most definitely the toughest match so far for both teams, ending in a draw and leaving everything to play for in the finals!
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After a gruelling 15 minutes of goal-for-goal play, the All-Stars just managed to pull away enough to take the win in a nail-biting finale!
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Huge thanks to all the players on both teams for literally bringing their A games... the team spirit was big and the trash talk was hilarious!
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A few special mentions; firstly to Jo and Evie Chenery for helping with scoring, supporting and generally flying the Finborough flag! Rob & Gemma Porch who provided coaching, cheers and whoops from the side line!
Clare and Becky held together the defensive contingents for both teams, working with the boys to shut down the opposition and turning play back up to the shooting circle.
Suzi, Jules and Emily tirelessly worked the centre court, keeping the play calm and controlled, most of the time! Maddie demonstrated her enviable versatility by flying across the midcourt as centre in one game and sinking goal after goal in the next!
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Thanks to both Jules and Emily for captaining their teams and a HUGE thank you to the boys who helped bring those medals home to Finborough. Some amazing performances from our secret weapon - Chief, Jonathan Bourne in the shooting circle! Jason and Dave Wise played phenomenally well where ever we put them, although both proved to be the super shooters of the All-Star team, even getting away with a few lay-ups and alley-oops! David Edwards managed to get through all matches without injuring anyone (his primary objective for the day) and Ollie, Rory and JC proved to be invaluable interceptors, turning countless balls back to the shooting circle!
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Last but not least... thank you to the two little supporters, Orla and Finley Card, who were so pumped by the day's rip roaring netball action, their exhausted parents Suzi and JC had to continue playing netball into the afternoon back at home!