Whanganui High School win gold on debut in the International Netball Festival in Australia

The Whanganui High School Gold team, flanked by co-coaches Lisa Murphy (left) and Kim Flower, went through unbeaten to win the U18 title on debut at the International Netball Festival Gold Coast in Australia last week.

Whanganui High School dominated the under-18 section of the annual International Netball Festival Gold Coast going through the tournament unbeaten.

On debut at the age group tournament, WHS sent two teams to compete in the under-8 division - WHS Gold and WHS Green - purely as a development exercise to blood young players at high level. The age group tournament is open to under-13, under-15 and under-18 teams.

The tournament featured 12 teams in the under-18 grade, including six from Australia, one from Fiji and five from New Zealand.

WHS Gold was coached by Lisa Murphy and Kim Flower, while WHS Green, which finished ninth, was coached by Robyn Walford and Clare Lynch.

"We played 10 games in total and our Gold team won all their matches and the title, while Green won four, including their last two on finals day to finish ninth," Murphy said.

Murphy had just four of her Whanganui Premier A1 players on tour with the remainder of the Gold team made up of WHS' A2 players, while the Green team also featured A2 graded girls.

"The entire tour was a development process for us and all 20 girls who travelled will benefit immensely from the experience," Murphy said.

"We played four games on Easter Sunday and four on Easter Monday. WHS Gold won all eight of those to put us into the semifinal with Kaipara College from north of Auckland. We managed to just beat them 23-21 in a very tight tussle.

"That put us into the final on Anzac Day with Fiji, who we had beaten earlier in the tournament. The Fijian girls were a very physical side and their supporters very loud on the sideline. We drew away to won that match 21-15 after my girls stayed composed and focused on what was needed to win," Murphy said.

The Whanganui High School Gold and Green teams with coaches debut at the International Netball Festival Gold Coast in Australia last week.

"The Green team and several of the Gold were younger girls who were led by the older, more experienced A1 players. Kara Adrole was voted Most Valuable Player in the Gold team, while Sara Bishop was MVP of the Green team."