After 13 weeks of competition, the Grand Finals for PDNA for 2017 Junior Competition’s Division 1 and 2 were held, with some extremely exciting games played.
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The first time slot was the Division 1 competition.
Diamonds, who had earned their position in the Grand Final by winning against the minor premiers in the elimination final, were full of confidence and self-belief and rightly so.
Emeralds, who had been second place for the majority of the season were also confident, and the desire to win from both teams was palpable at the start of the game.
After a strong start by the Emeralds, to only trail by 3 goals at quarter time.
This level of play continued throughout the second quarter, with the teams going goal for goal for the majority of the quarter.
This all changed in the third quarter, where Diamonds through some fantastic skilled play, guts and determination drew level with the Emeralds early in the quarter.
Facing an extremely big challenge, Emeralds pulled together and managed to score 8 unanswered goals and went into three quarter time with a comfortable lead.
The final quarter was also hotly contested, and essentially goal for goal, but it wasn’t enough for the Diamonds to pull out a fairytale victory, and Emeralds were winners at the end of the game, with a final score of 31 – 23.
Player of the Grand Final went to Grace Dickson, who played Wing Defence for Emeralds in their victory, proving that a good Wing Defence can make a big difference to the outcome of the match.
The Division 2 Grand Final was held between Stars and the 11s Development team.
These two teams had some fantastic games throughout the home and away season, and the Grand Final proved to be no different.
After a quick start from the 11s Development team, Stars pulled themselves together and gradually worked the lead back to an even game, and for the first time in recent memory there was a 20-all result at full time.
In extra time, the 11s Development team pulled away again, and ended up eventual winners with a full time score of 28-24.
The player of the Grand Final was Caitlyn Mcginnes, who was fundamental in stopping Stars from being able to penetrate the shooting circle, and limited the opportunities for Stars to score.
Most Consistent for the home and away season in Division 1 was Kendra Dunn, who played for the 12 Representatives.
Throughout the season, Kendra showed tremendous versatility moving from attack to defence with ease.
Most Consistent for the home and away season in Division 2 was Heidi-Lee Pearce.
Constant shooting practice throughout the season paid off for Heidi, who was fundamental to many of the wins the 11s Development team had during the year.
The Kelly Swetland Memorial Award was presented to Paris Neville.
While not playing in the junior competition in 2017, Paris volunteered her time during 2017 right from the commencement of the season, assisting during the first round to coach some basic skills and continuing this commitment through the season helping wherever she could, whether this was umpiring multiple games each week, or coaching, or playing if needed.
Her love of netball came through in her commitment to Parkes Junior netball in 2017, and was a completely worthy recipient of this prestigious Parkes Junior Netball award.
The Rae Medlyn award, presented to a volunteer for the Tuesday night competition, was also belatedly presented on Junior Grand Final Day to Wally Norman.
Wally is an indispensable member of the Parkes Netball community, and his commitment to ensuring the continued development of the Parkes Netball competition as a whole is invaluable.
