Great Southern Regional Netball Championships: Albany and Denmark dominate finals at three-day carnival

Hundreds of netballers from around WA converged on the Albany Leisure and Aquatic Centre for the Great Southern Regional Netball Championships at the weekend. A total of 35 teams and 47 umpires were involved across 81 games at the three-day carnival. Albany and Denmark were the major winners on Sunday, claiming multiple titles. In the 12 and under division Albany Green proved too strong for Denmark, 30-19, and Denmark had their revenge in the 14 and under grand final, as they won 25-24 in a thriller against Albany Green. Esperance capped a strong weekend with victory in the 16 and under decider, beating Albany Gold 27-24. Albany Green were dominant performers in the 20 and under grand final, as they easily took care of Esperance with a 39-23 scoreline. In the open division two decider, Denmark proved too strong for Albany Gold (44-41) and in the division one open grand final it was Albany Green that claimed an impressive 46-39 win over Esperance. The event was run by Netball WA Great Southern and there were several awards handed out at the end. Esperance Netball Association’s Fiona McDonald was named volunteer of the year, Albany Netball Association received the best dressed award and Kojonup Netball Association’s open team won the sportsmanship award. Kojonup’s Liz Webb was named rising star coach and Narrogin and Districts Netball Association’s Abbey Dewing was named rising star umpire. Albany’s Trish Hines was named all-star coach and Albany’s Keira Wiegle was named all-star umpire. There was also umpire coaching and badging over the weekend. Kojonup’s Sofia Tunui received her national C-badge while national B-badges were handed to Weigle and Denmark’s Amy Dominiak.