Throughout the 2009/09 season, Hertford Heath Rangers has seen some great success with individual players demonstrating excellent dedication and support. We have seen some of our players go for their Beginners Umpiring Awards - a big well done to Iona Ivemy, Lucy DeRosa and Amy Sim. Also, a big well done to Maddy Pearson (Ravens Team Captain) for passing her assessment in her Beginners Award at Mark Hall Sports Complex early in the Winter Season and is now looking to go forward for her C Award in due course. All of the above girls are under 16 players and are a great example for their age groups and fantastic assets to have in the club. A special mention must also go to Clare Daw, Lucy Hoskin and Holly Shilston for participating in County Netball Satellite days.
Congratulations also go to our senior players; Victoria Perez, Lynn Prentice, Hayley Varney and Claire Page who are now qualified Level 1 Coaches and are onboard to help with our junior section. A huge thank you to those coaches who have given up their time (all voluntarily) and have achieved so much in producing the excellent teams we have. I would like to take this opportunity to wish Hayley Varney, our Badger’s coach, all the best as she looks forward to University in September (she will be greatly missed), but will be back during the summer months to continue her tremendous support. The Badgers Team presented Hayley with a lovely gift and card and a smashing send off. I am sure Hayley is very proud of her team as they will go a long way and should be very proud of herself for all the time and commitment she has given the club - another great example.
We look to send one or two of our coaches on to do their Level 2 Coaching Course as soon as funds allow us and on this note, a special mention must go to the Hertford Heath Parish Council who are a great support to the club. They have generously donated funds which have allowed us to send five of our players on coaching courses and for buying training equipment. Sending players on coaching courses is very costly and without the support from the Parish Council, we would not have been able to have achieved this.
The Club have now set in place, team Representatives for all the Junior Teams; Amanda Davies and Julie Francis (Hawks), Sue Colvin (Badgers), Vicky Perez (Foxes) and Kim Nicholson (Vixens). I will of course continue to look after both the Ravens and Falcons and Maria the Seniors. The Representatives have been fantastic in organising their teams for matches and essentially freeing up some of my time.
Our Junior Teams Secretary, Denise Jones, is sadly leaving us and my warmest wishes and appreciation goes out to her. Denise has been at the forefront of establishing the junior section over the past 3 years and without her help and support, it would not have been as smooth running as it has been. Denise, you will be very much missed by everyone at Hertford Heath Rangers - if you ever feel bored, you know where we are!
Training has been going really well, sometimes quite tiring as you will appreciate the time and effort our coaches put in but all very rewarding! We should all be very proud of what we have achieved, especially to those girls that show dedication and commitment turning out to every training session. These girls love playing netball and appreciate the main essence is fun and enjoyment and not just the winning!
We are looking to apply for our first CAPS award in the new season and once the wheels have been set in motion, we will keep you all posted of our progress and how everyone can help us to achieve our goals.
Hertford Heath Village Fete turned out to be a really good day, a lot of hard work but it was worth it in the end! A big thank you to our senior players Gemma and Vicky and to representatives, Amanda and Julie who helped out on the day. The Club made £273 in total, which is an excellent result. This years' theme was a Bottle Tombola which did so well that we had cleared out within an hour of opening! We also did a raffle and netball shoot out competition which proved to be a great success.
This years Presentation Evening was another successful event for our Club, pictures of the evening can be found here.
The Seniors went on Tour back in May to Pontins in Prestatyn and played up against some really tough opponents. It was a great experience and full credit to the team as they reached the Cup Final Stage. We are looking to go away next year, hopefully to Potters Leisure Resort - we will keep everyone posted.
The Seniors did especially well throughout the Winter Season and after just one season in a new league, the Welwyn & Hatfield League, they have moved up to Division 2. They also won the Welwyn Hatfield End of Season versatility tournament - a fantastic achievement of which they should all be very proud! The team were presented with the Winners Trophy for this and individual trophies for Runners Up in Division 3. Keith Prentice has very kindly written a report on the tournament, which can be found here on the website along with some individual match reports.
A big thank you to every player and to the parents for their continued support and help throughout the year - without you the club would have not been able to achieve so much. Here's to a great 2009/10 Season!
Maureen : )