THERE’S excitement in the Cats’ camp this week, with five players and a senior staff member heading to Adelaide to represent the Western Border in the Netball SA Country Championships.

Best of luck to Ebany Jarrad, Chelsea Hulm, Indi Longhurst and Sarah Richardson - the club is proud of your efforts and hopes you enjoy the experience.

Since its inception in 1936, the Netball SA Country Championships has been the pinnacle netball event for South Australia's regional netball community, bringing together more than 1000 participants from the state’s regional associations to Adelaide’s Netball SA Stadium, on the June long weekend.

The championships are an exciting showcase of the best regional talent, with participants ranging from seniors to under 11s.

The Western Border Netball Association will send five junior rep teams to this year’s championships, with Jarrad lining up in the 17 & Under side, while Hulm, Longhurst and Richardson will take the court in the 15 & Under age group.

The Cats will also be represented by coach, Jodie Humphries and young defender, Ylana Grigg, named as coach and player, respectively, for the 13 & Under development team.

At the weekend, the junior Cats continued to show they’re made of tough stuff, with the 13 & Unders line-up doubling up to take the court twice on Saturday for two wins, while all 17 & Under players also took to the court for a second run, filling crucial roles in senior sides.

In the seniors, the A Reserve girls snagged their second win of the season, once again too good for the Demons, while the A Grade’s mix of new faces and experience continues to show improved form every week – Saturday’s result the Cats’ second-closest margin for the season.

From the scribes …

13 & Under

IT WAS a great day for both our 13 & Under A and B sides, coming home with a win each.

Despite having to play both games, all 10 girls gave 100 per cent, chased-up every loose ball and scored off almost every centre.

In less-than-ideal weather conditions, the girls continued to keep their heads up and push through to get the wins on the board.

Phoebe, Makayla, Renae and Ylana used their height and quick moments to feeders Marlee, Adele and Renae, to score accurately.

Ylana, Nicole, Rachel, Chloe and Ella worked very hard to intercept as many balls as they could to give us that lead on the scoreboard.

Overall, the girls played an amazing two games.

17 & Under

THE Cats’ 17 & Under Side sits with four wins at the end of round nine and find themselves in fourth place on the ladder. 

The young Cats side fought valiantly going down by 17 goals. 

When the sides first met this season, the margin was 21 goals in favour of the Demons. 

Whilst this may not seem like much of an improvement, dig a little deeper and you will find South fielding a much stronger side this time around. 

There were no passengers on the day with each Cat giving their all for their side. 

Chloe Foster and Ivy Lane are forming a formidable partnership in attack, with strong support from Madeline Patton at WA. 

Makayla Hutchins was a strong influence throughout the centre across the whole court. 

Sophie Hart continues to show great improvement this season and is making life difficult for opposition WAs. 

Marissa Jamieson is showing her versatility with a new role in defence. 

She is finding her feet and forming a good partnership with Ebany Jarrad. 

The girls having a tough battle with the most accurate goaling pair in the league. 

The girls will continue to work to remove the errors from their game and the margins will continue to decrease. 

Opposition best were given to Ivy Lane and Ebany Jarrad.  

A Grade

A GRADE had one of their closest games for the season, falling short by 15 goals. 

South have been the biggest improvers this season claiming victories over both East and North. 

The contest was a good one to watch with the battle always going to be if they could limit the opportunities for the South goalies who rarely miss from anywhere in the ring. 

Defenders Caeleigh Humphries Charlotte Rice and Ebany Jarrad, worked hard to limit those opportunities with the South side having to take the long way around to get to goal majority of the time. 

Scarlett Jarrad as always was the guiding hand for the side, hard at the ball in defence and always there in attack. 

The goaling line up of Ivy Lane at Shooter and Madalene Cleary worked well together and will be better for the game together. 

Makayla Hutchins at WA led well and worked well around the ring with Scarlett to give Madalene and Ivy as much of the ball as they could.  The Cats are continuing to improve and played a good four quarters, now to ensure the start the game with the intensity that they build up to, I’m sure their first win won’t be too far away.