Schools from around regional NSW took to the courts at Macquarie Park for the Netball NSW Schools Cup

The two Port Macquarie schools will represent the North Coast on September 26 at the Genea Netball Centre at Sydney Olympic Park.

They will compete against winners from the seven other regions in New South Wales.

Mackillop will compete in the year 7/8 boys and girls and year 9/10 boys competitions, while St Joseph’s progressed to the year 9/10 girls’ finals.

In the year 7/8 girls final, Mackillop defeated St Pauls College Kempsey 11-10 after scores were level at 5-all at the break.

Mackillop’s year 7/8 boys team defeated Macksville High School 19-10, while their year 9/10 boys team were too strong for St Columba Anglican School 11-6.

In the year 9/10 girls final, St Josephs Regional College defeated Taree High School 13-12. after trailing 7-5 at half-time.

Mackillop physical education teacher Michelle Marino said their year 7/8 and 9/10 boys teams had been the surprise packets of the competition.

“The boys teams were an unknown quantity because we didn’t know what the competition was going to be like,” Marino said.

“With the girls you kind of know from the rep scene which areas are strong or which schools may have strength, but with the boys we had no idea.”

It was the first time the school had fielded a boys team in any of the age groups after they started to generate some interest towards the end of last year.

“We started in term four last year knowing we wanted to introduce the boys netball this year so we started running weekly sessions to teach them the basics of the game,” Marino said.

“Both boys divisions surprised us because this is the first year we’ve had those teams.

“We’ve been trying to get them in for a little while, but this year was our first year and they were super keen.”

Surprisingly, those in the team with a basketball background were outnumbered by those who didn’t.

“There was only four of them in the 9/10 team in particular that had a basketball background and there’s 11 in the team,” Marino said.

“This year, they were all really keen, but it surprised us because there were kids that had not represented in any other sports, so they chose netball as their thing.”

Marino said while the team had key players, they all fulfilled their roles.

“We do have standout athletes, but in a game like this they have to play as a team, that’s the key to their success,” she said.

“It’s honed into them that they have to play as a team to get that success so I think ultimately that’s what happened.”