Queens are running on a 100% success rate as we took to a very wet and slippery court to beat Ryland Rubies 32-12 👑 🥳

The morning was not looking bright as we arrived amid the downpours and a very threatening sky and player’s spirits were reflective of this, but we got our butts moving and picked ourselves up 🙌🏼

Defence was absolutely tip-top, as always, with Beth, Lucinda and Stacey who are our consistently strong and very reliable trio making intercept after intercept for the rest of the team to turnover 🔥

Centre court kept pushing on, even when the going got WET and there were a few calls for footwork, and loose passing and receiving where the ball was simply too slippy to grip, but by q2&3 we managed to reign it back in with some steady pace and reminding ourselves of the basics, and then we begun to fly again, thanks to Stacey, Amy, Gemma, Sophie, Antonia and Frankie who all had a go (even with many of us out of our first positions)! 🏃‍♀️💨

Shooting was unreal, with the hard work between the combinations of Frankie & Amy, and Gemma & Hayley really having paid off where are seeing great movement, great timing and great teamwork to get goal after goal (not to mention the accuracy and conversion of shots has gone sky-high in the last few months) 🚀

Player of the match was deservedly awarded to Gemma for taking on C for a quarter where others don’t dare, IMMACULATE shooting at GA, never ever tiring and always bringing a very valued laugh to the whole team, even in dire conditions 🌧️

Queens; your very happy cappy 🫡
Soph 🖤

Diamonds match report by player of the match, Mary

Match report: Diamonds 22/09/24

We played a close match against Redditch Pearls yesterday morning coming out on top with the score 36-33.

Q1 began well, we were adjusting to their type of play which wasn’t helped by the weather but we started off in the lead. Our passing started off strong with excellent catching. We were able work the ball into the attacking D starting off the great shooting from both Chloe and Katie with brilliant offers from outside the D from Eliza.

During Q2 the weather got worse with more showers, but everyone kept in good spirits so we were able to bring the score up especially with Edie joining us as GD. A great tactic from Chloe was played excellently, she would drive out when the ball was near the D in order to give Katie room to go under the post the receive a pass which really put pressure on the Pearl’s defenders. With some impressive interceptions at our defensive end, this was our best quarter.

Q3 unfortunately Redditch pearls were able to close the score gap as we slowed the pace down to ensure less risk of injury as the court was very slippy now. However, at the attacking end there was more use of bounce passing which really threw off those tall defenders allowing us to keep our lead.

Q4 Here we saw the score come to a draw 30-30, the pressure heightened. We were able to lock in with the short sharp passing and quick changes of direction to easily carry the ball into our attacking D bringing the game back. The passing around the D before sending into either Chloe or Katie was very effective here and allowed us to score 3 in a row.

Well, what a start to the Winter League for Alcester Queens! 👑

Although we all try to be positive beans, it’s fair to say we were all feeling a tad wobbly going into the game without some players, some players with dodgy ankles, some with rubbish colds & all of us having those first-match butterflies… we perhaps weren’t our most optimistic selves.

BUT WE’RE THE QUEENS 💪🏼🤣✨

And we came out on top… 34-19 🥳

The defence pushed hard to take advantage of the opposition’s errors (shoutout to Lucinda Granger, Beth & especially Jasmine for helping us out today), allowing us to feed back into the centre court and push into the attacking third, where Frankie Woods and Amy-Sue Widman worked tirelessly around that D. There were countless rebounds caught by the shooters, never ceasing to give up, their determination (and not forgetting Elaine’s ‘word of the day’, ‘LIFT!’) allowing us to take the win in each quarter. This would not have been possible without the consistently incredible effort put in by our excellent Captain & Centre, Sophie, rightly so winning her Player of the Match.

Shout out to Antonia, whose naughty ankle got the better of her, but who always puts in her absolute best – you better rest that ankle and be back next week girrrrl!

Another shout out to Imogen for her first ever match with Alcester Queens, who put in her absolute best and found her groove as the game progressed – well done lovely!

Bring on the rest of the season!
AWOOGA! 🥳🖤

So tragedy struck this morning after Suzanne’s appetite got the best of her and she came down with food poisoning 😬 this was after Jo had already broken her toe and told us the night before that she couldn’t play AND the Bennett’s also are wild camping in dirty underwear apparently meaning they were already out this week, so for a scary minute there we only had six players…

but amazingly, Jasmine from Queens saved the day and stayed after her game to play for us (thank you thank you thank you!) and honestly, it was a cracking game.

We started playing having turned over the opposition’s first centre pass and it just went up from there. Some of us were out of position – shout out to Emily who was fab as a WA, but you wouldn’t have been able to tell and we finished the first quarter 11 goals ahead.

To be honest, I was worried we might have slightly overexerted ourselves in the first quarter, and we wouldn’t have been able to maintain this lead throughout but it definitely gave us a good head start. As the game continued, we did manage to slow it down and the opposition had a really good second quarter. However, given our lead from earlier in the game, we were still 12 ahead going into the second half.

We kept our pace in the second half and Jodie and Jeanette were on fire with their shooting. We kept control well (Sarah’s feedback), had some great interceptions from Defence and only started making some silly sloppy mistakes towards the end but I think we knew it’s because we had it in the bag!

Jeanette won player which was thoroughly deserved, and she even escaped from wearing the new player’s hat which I can only assume Amelia has taken with her for the camping trip to Sweden! Well done Jeannette! And thank you again to Jasmine for playing a whole game for us as GD after playing a whole game for Queens – we literally couldn’t have done today or got this result without you!

Well done everyone!!!

♣️ 61 – 33 🐆

Match report- ♥️ vs Panthers 2

Hearts’ first match of the winter season, against Panthers 2, saw us missing a few key players, with Chloe, Chiara and Izzy very kindly agreeing to play up for us.

The first quarter started a bit slow with everyone getting used to playing out of position and with new players. We eventually found our ground and pulled the score back in the second quarter.
Liv and Chloe both had a great game at GS and GA, holding their own against a tough defence and scoring some excellent goals.

Izzy, Chiara and Kate rotated in centre court, giving some really strong feeds into the D and helping the defence bring the ball up the court.
Kat had a really strong game in WD against a very quick WA, but she was able to keep up, putting a lot of pressure on her and keeping the ball out of the defensive D.
Pip played her first game as an official member of team hearts. She had some really great tips and won us a lot of important rebounds, allowing us to turn the game over.

It was our first game playing GD/GK together, we both worked really well in putting pressure on the attack, especially in the 3rd quarter forcing them to make extra passes which we were able to turn over.

The overall score was 41-36 to Panthers, with player deservedly awarded to Liv.

Some areas to work on would be timing when making moves and receiving the ball, but overall we had a really good first game and still gained a point for getting within 5.

Note to self, don’t go out the night before a 9:30am match, as you will be playing with a hangover 🫠

Written by Laura – player

Match report: Clubs v BDR Jets

What a great way to start the winter season.

To be honest with you all, it was a rough start getting back on court this morning. I hope none of the team minds me saying that I think we were all adjusting to the fresh start and change of venue. This was demonstrated by some sloppy passes that didn’t have quite enough height or strength behind them. There was also some rushed passes/overheads into the D which the defenders quickly cottoned on to and started to intercept. This, together with their GA being ridiculously good at shooting, meant we went into the second half being nine down.

HOWEVER… the tables started to slowly turn as we slowed down, started to use the width of the court and played the ball around the D more before passing to the shooters. As a result, we won the third quarter and going into the fourth, once we started pulling it back, there was just no stopping us.

Don’t get me wrong, we still have some work to do, with centre passes and just re-gelling a little but I am so proud of us for pulling it back as well as we did. Well done to everyone for keeping our heads high and powering on because it definitely paid off.

Bitter sweet though because unfortunately Lorraine did suffer an injury – on the first game back. So recover quickly please Lorraine 🤞🏼

Congratulations to Amelia who won player, had some great feeds and was just overall a powerhouse on court.

Let’s start as we mean to go on team 💪🏼💪🏼

♣️ Clubs 45 – 41 – BDR Jets ✈️

Written by Ellie – Captain

Match report: Diamonds 08.09.24

Diamonds played Hotshots 2 on a wet and rainy Sunday morning, winning 28-18!

Q1 began well matched with both teams adjusting to the weather and the very slippery conditions. Despite this, passing was good and the team was able to move the ball around well with good interceptions and work it into the attacking D starting off the great shooting from both Chloe and Katie, despite some minor setbacks with the slippery ball.

Unfortunately, during Q2 the rain began to get heavier with passing and running for balls became a lot harder with none of us wanting to slip and cause an injury. However, an injury did unfortunately occur meaning brief changes had to be made to the attackers. This still didn’t stop the passing, especially Poppy M in the centre being able to move the ball really effectively around court.

Q3 saw some great interceptions from Edie and good work around and in the defending D, putting a lot of pressure on the shooters, however there was an slight increase in dropped passes and replaying, that had been a problem throughout the match, due to the wet conditions.

Q4 was not the best quarter with hotshots managing to move the ball around well and picking up more goals, however the team carried on with a good defence and won back some balls that were fed into the attacking D well giving the shooters good chances against the Hotshots defence who were working very hard against our shooters.

Well played first match of the season everyone!👏

Written by Georgina – player of the match

Aces 25 – 38 Blackbird Divas

Aces started their return to division 2 with a defeat against summers seasons div 2 champions Blackbird Divas. With a few changes to personnel and a few weeks off training, Aces came out of the blocks with a scrappy slow start with some miss placed passes and unforced errors, causing us to fall narrowly behind Divas with their excellent shooting accuracy. Aces settled in the second half of the game with a better possession based game and allowed us to build some better passages of play together, however, a lack of match fitness and not having a substitute cost us. There is many positives to take from the game including feeding and re-offering around the D, to allow our shooters the best positions, as well as defensive pressure in the D and better centre pass options. Areas to work on include strength of passes, back line passes and overall individual fitness but we’ve got it in us to beat them next time! Players player went to Katie and captains player went to Leah

Written by Katie – Vice Captain

On 1st September 2024 we began the day with 3 league matches at the new/old Central venue – Tudor Grange aka Kingsley. The courts were much improved and offer more space for spectators! Team Clubs started the proceedings with a win over another Alcester team, BDR, 5 points. Team Hearts were without 5 of their squad and called upon the support of just 1 Ace and 2 Diamonds, they fought hard against a Panthers 2 Team and finished within 5 goals of Panthers’ win, 2 points. Aces game fluctuated throughout, in the end they finished within half of Blackbird Divas score, 1 point. Our netball day finished with our AGM & Awards event at Alcester Rugby Club which was well attended and enjoyed by all. Lots of worthy winners of awards. Minutes to follow.

What a fabulous end to the summer 2024 season! Although we have endured more soggy conditions than sunny ones, we have continued to grow as a club and enjoy the progressions:

Division 1

Our first team, Hearts, have maintained their high standard, playing against some tough teams who, in a lot of cases, play at a higher level in city leagues. Finishing a very proud 5th position 👏

Division 2

Clubs fought well to prove their worth in 2nd division finishing in 3rd position 👍

Division 3

Aces used this season to regroup and gel as a team after struggling a tough winter in 2nd division and I am very proud to say that they finished top in 1st place 👌

Division 4

Diamonds were UNBEATEN all season. We have watched them progress over the last 4 years to the wonderful team that they are today. Finishing in top spot another 1st place for Alcester 🏆 Diamonds 💎

Our newly formed Queens had a great first season, winning a few matches along the way! Finishing in 8th place ahead of two established teams. I look forward to watching their progression 👸

ATNC enters their 15th year in September!