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250 Game Milestone
Congratulations to Emily Batt on playing her 250th Open Netball Game for the saints last Round. This is an amazing achievement by a talented netballer. It will entitle Emily to a HFNL Life Membership where she will Join her mother Gay Batt and her sister Stacey O’Sullivan on the long list of HFNL Life Members.
Association Championships
Good Luck to our 13/U, 15/U and 17/U Representative Teams who are competing in the Preliminary Rounds of the 2021 Association Championships this Sunday at Wendouree. All the best to our Umpires – Leo McGrath, Rachael Dickson and Ashley Evans who are umpiring at the tournament this weekend.
Since the Association Championships’ inception in the year 2000 the Hampden FNL have been very successful across all Grades of the tournament. The 13/U’s won the titles in 2008 and 2009 and came Runners Up in 2014. The 15/U’s claimed the title in 2007 and 2012 and Runner Up in 2002, 2003, 2015 and 2016. The 17/U team won the first ever title in their division in the year 2000 and also in 2004. They came Runners Up in 2005 and 2011. The Open Team were the winners in 2002 and 2003 and managed to come second for 5 consecutive years from 2004 through to 2008 and then again in 2012. On numerous occasions we gave also played out some great matches in the semifinals without success.
The Association Championships provide an excellent platform for both player and umpire pathways and it’s important for our league to be competing. Wishing all our players and officials the Best of Luck, I’m sure you will all do the HFNL proud.
The Year Ahead
Looking ahead to finals, it’s likely the teams positioned in the top 6 places at this stage of the competition will be out finals contenders given that the remaining teams are well behind on premiership points. Whilst I believe Cobden and South Warrnambool will keep their spots at the top of the table, North Warrnambool, Warrnambool, Koroit and Camperdown will battle it out for the remaining 3 places. The Eagles and the Magpies have the toughest run home playing all the teams in contention, but Camperdown will need to have some convincing wins to boost their percentage if they are to play finals in 2021.
Good Luck to everyone Competing this weekend and let’s hope the sun continues to shine over the weekend.
Author: Josie Logan
