Worthing College netballers are crowned national champions

And coach Tina Price says she is ‘so proud’ of her team.

She said: “This is the biggest prize in Netball as this competition is open to all schools and colleges in the country that affiliate to England Netball.

“On looking at the trophy I don’t think it has ever been won by a state school, certainly not in the last 10 years at U19 level.

“I am so proud that a small college has won the biggest netball competition in the country.”

After winning the group from Leeds Grammar School on goal difference they faced Millfield in the semi final.

The wind was extremely strong making the playing conditions extremely difficult.

Price said: “We dealt with this brilliantly taking an early lead and never looking back. End result was a 17-9 win.”

SEE ALSO Who do Sussex's sides have to face in their battles for promotion and relegation? | New Shoreham management team revealed | Worthing pub hopes to welcome Sky Sports pundit Chris KamaraIn the other semis final Leeds Grammar School won beating Bromsgrove so it was a Worthing College v Leeds Grammar School Final.

Price said: “We knew we had lost the game in the group stages due to errors on our part so all we had to do was to not make the same mistakes again, which I am delighted to say we didn’t and again we took an early lead so the half time score was 7-3 to us with the game ending 12-5 and meant Worthing College were Nationals Champs.”

The Academy programme at the college allows the girls to flourish, the strength and conditioning programme run by the Sussex Performance Centre plays a major part in the programme and the fact that the girls play competitively week in week out in numerous competitions all have led such an amazing achievement.

Captain Shelby Harris and vice captain Iona Gardener – said “The National Schools final was an amazing day.

“After winning the first game we all felt hyped, a slight wobble before lunch meant we lost our first game all season. This was devastating for us so we came back fighting stronger than before. We were all very nervous before the semi but we all wanted to win.

“It was amazing experience that we have all worked so hard to achieve. We will remember it for the rest of our lives.”

The Netball Academy could end up with five or six titles at the end of the season.

Last Wednesday the team also won the County Cup, beating Hurstpierpoint 53-47 in a well-contested game.

Any yr11 netballers who wish to join a quality programme and play netball at the highest level, Worthing College would be pleased to hear from you. https://www.worthing.ac.uk/admissions