Following the success of our U12A netballers being crowned national champions and our U11 becoming bronze medal winners at the IAPS National Netball Finals, it was finally the turn of the U13A team, who travelled to Glastonbury to compete on Tuesday. With 101 prep schools entering this age category, it was a huge achievement to even hold a spot at the finals alongside the top 20 schools.

The girls had the start of dreams, beating Mill Hill 15-3 before having to play the previous year’s title holders, Bromsgrove. In a stellar performance they drew 11-11; setting the scene for the rest of the day and giving them the belief that they were up there with the best teams. They went on to beat Taunton School 19-5 and Edgeborough 14-9 to top the pool and enter the quarter-finals. The girls were exhausted but showed huge team spirit in the team talk before the quarter-finals. 

They went on to beat Winterfold House 15-5 in the best quarter-final score of the day. Speechless, the girls and coaches made their way onto the top two courts, now realising they were one of only 4 teams left in the country. They faced an excellent Brighton College School side in the semi-final and won by one goal at the final whistle.  They made their way to the centre court, where Bishops Stortford College were waiting. The Heath Mount girls battled and battled; holding their nerve from an 8-8 scoreline at half-time to finish the game as national IAPS champions, 17-14. As parents and coaches ran onto the court, there was not a dry eye in the house as the girls shrieked and hugged each other. This was a very special day for a very special group of children, who against all the odds really did pull it out of the bag.  

Congratulations to the girls and their coaches, Sophie Meister and Caitlin Rump.