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with Matt “ Duck Man ” Austin
Netball is a staple sport in the Hills area and has been for many years . Baulkham Hills Shire Netball Association has run yet another phenomenally successful season with kudos going to all of the volunteers and clubs who help run and administer this massive competition .
With 23 clubs covering the Hills area including areas such as Castle Hill , Baulkham Hills , Winston Hills , Glenwood , Oakhill , Kellyville , Glenhaven , Rouse Hill and Kenthurst , the competition has an enormous footprint and player pool . Many of these prospective young talents will find themselves following the footsteps of other former local Baulkham Hills Shire netball talents such as Matisse Leatherbarrow , who developed her skills on the courts at Wellgate Avenue in Kellyville .
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Glenwood Netball Club girls after their game . Credit : Glenwood Netball Club . |
With competitions in Net Set Go for the youngest players starting their netball journey going through to the junior competition which encompasses teams from the under 10s through to under 14s which field 28 divisions packed with loads of teams and strong competition , the association is jam packed with highly talented competitive players dreaming of an opportunity to play at the highest levels .
In the intermediate competitions there are 11 divisions which help the junior players integrate into playing with players that are in older age groups in stronger more developed competitions . In the senior women ’ s competitions , there are 16 divisions that bring out the weekend warriors , who live for the weekend and playing netball for the clubs they love in a beautiful part of Sydney .
The competition has been red hot throughout the season and with the penultimate match of the finals recently being played it creates grand final showdowns for the best of the best in the competitions . It is a logistical masterpiece to navigate a season ’ s draw with military precision , organising matches for some 3250 matches for over 500 teams , and then a further 55 grand final showdowns to go for the 2024 season .
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In the Intermediate A competition , we have seen some strong performances from Glenwood who have proven to be the competition front runners finishing on top of their competition . They had 76 points and 12 wins from 12 matches to set themselves up nicely against the Rams .
The Rams finished 2nd in the regular season with 68 points and 10 wins and 2 losses ahead of both Baulkham Hills teams who rounded out the top 4 with a respectable 54 points made up of 6 wins and 1 draw and 48 points from 5 wins in the competition . The finals match saw Glenwood book a grand final spot up against Baulkham Hills which will be a much-awaited showdown .
In the A1 Women ’ s competition for 2024 we saw Baulkham Hills 1 finish on top of the competition with 12 wins and 2 losses to finish on 76 points , with Glenwood 1 finishing 2nd on the ladder with 68 points from 10 wins and 4 losses in the regular competition , Castle Hill Sports 1 finished 3rd on 64 points with 9 wins and 5 losses and Baulkham Hills 2 finished 4th on 62 points with 8 wins , 5 draws and 1 loss . The first finals showdown saw Glenwood 1 eclipse Baulkham Hills 1 in the grand final qualifier with a comprehensive 57-36 win over the minor premiers , and Baulkham Hills 2 got up in
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Baulkham Hills Sports women ’ s players celebrate . Credit : Baulkham Hills Sports Netball . an absolute cliff hanger 41-38 against the young and upcoming Castle Hill Sports team .
The recent preliminary final saw Baulkham Hills 2 cause a boil over with a 49-43 win against their club mates Baulkham Hills , to book a showdown with the flashy Glenwood team with results being split throughout the year with the underdogs Baulkham Hills winning 37-32 in round 7 and Glenwood winning the return match in round 14 in the last round of the regular season 60-43 .
It promises to be one of the grand finals of the ages and will see who is crowned the champions for the 2024 season .
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