Fun in the Sun Tournament – June 4, 2011

Thanks to everyone who helped make our annual Fun in the Sun Tournament a success.  While we were only able to enter one San Diego team, we had 6 visiting teams (Phoenix Heat, NY MINC, 2 LA Waves teams, Comets and SF) so it was a very full day of netball! 

United held their own with 3 wins against Heat, Waves 2 and Comets.  Claire made an awesome comeback after the birth of her son Jack, with some phenomenal shooting as GA throughout the morning.  Celia, Karen G.P, Kate W and Tanya helped fill in the rest of the shooting throughout the day.  Kerrin’s delayed trip home to Australia was definitely our gain with her presence as GD for the morning games.  Elaine and Cath shared C for the day.  The other center court positions were well covered by Justine, Kate D, Kate W, Riz, Alison and Barb.  Afternoon saw a switch up of positions as not everyone could stay for the whole day.  Thanks to Dave and Celia for taking on GD and Heather stepping up to play GK. 

Congratulations to Elaine for being our MVP for the day.  You certainly deserved it with a very energizer bunny like performance!  Even though you’ve only been part of the club for a couple of months we’ll be sorry to see you return to Singapore at the end of the month.  You’re always welcome back!

We missed Steph due to an ankle injury from last week’s training and unfortunately Riz went home injured aswell.  Fractured ankle.  Best wishes to both of you for a quick recovery! 

Thanks to Sharon, Alison, Kerrin, Elaine and Karen G.P. for umpiring throughout the day.  They also provided umpiring duties for Phoenix Heat and MINC so one of them was umpiring almost every match of the day!  Thank you!

Thanks to all the other clubs who travelled to San Diego and participated in our tournament.  Congratulations to Waves 1 for their win and MINC with a close 2nd place finish.  All in all a great day of netball!

Fun in the Sun & PCNL April 17th /18th 2010

Fun in the Sun 2010

This year’s Fun in the Sun Tournament could well have been our best ever – San Diego United fielded 3 teams for the first time in our history. So firstly – Thank you to everyone who turned out in the white and black – you made this! It’s also (I believe) the first time one of our teams has won our tournament, so secondly – Congratulations to the Dolphins!!

Six teams played in the tournament, with the Stars, Silicone Valley Nettas and the Waves travelling down. The standard was very even among all teams, but we all play to win, so we have to talk about the winners! The Dolphins might have claimed to be the shortest team of the weekend, but they were very effective – Keren’s attacking skills were used to great effect and combined to some fast and slick play in the circle with Joey, who played like she’d been doing it for years. Kara, Jodie, Laura and Naomi were a forceful centre court and Lisa and Kate P provided turnover ball all day. Even the Netta’s with their height advantage couldn’t get enough ball to get a win against the Dolphins. MVP was Jodie, who throughout the weekend showed fantastic timing, vision and speed.

The Sharks had a mixed day, winning enough to place 3^rd and should be proud of themselves. MVP Jet playing in her first ever competitive tournament did us proud – even if she saved her best intercept for when she was filling in for the Dolphins! Kristine showed again how much potential she has, with continuing improvement and some really classy goals. Steph led by example in the middle, with Kate D, Cath and Justine running all day long, Alison, Heather and Ants were a great defensive unit and combined their play with words of wisdom and encouragement for Jet.

The Whales might not have had success on the scoreboard, but that didn’t reflect the games they played. Against the Sharks the Whales led for much of the game, only for the Sharks to sneak the win at the end. Claire was the shooting stalwart ably assisted by Sam and Karen, in the middle David, Celia, and Gillian worked hard all day and Tanya and Barb fought for every ball. A cameo from Kerrin added to their cause but unfortunately the Whales finished in last place. MVP was Tanya, who played with so much energy all weekend.

We had a great day which was contributed to by many people. Huge thanks are due to Barb, Sharon and Sam for organizing, Tanya for providing all the tables and coolers, David for a fantastic snack stand and Lisa for once again making the raffle so good – due to everyone’s very generous donations (I’m still gutted about winning nothing!).

All of the travelling teams commented on the standard of play and San Diego on fielding 3 teams of such a high standard. I can only think of one thing that would make FITS better next year… persuading Sharon out of retirement!

PCNL

“That’s a long way to come to get burnt- eh?” – yes Kerrin, I think it was!

San Diego United were victorious in both PCNL games played this weekend. On Saturday morning, even before the tournament began we played the Silicone Valley Nettas. This team plays a very distinct, arial style of netball, but San Diego were more than up to the challenge. With changes at every quarter and all 12 squad players getting game time, nothing seemed to disrupt the flow. Defense was strong and disciplined, centre court showed speed and creativity and shooters were well timed and accurate in finishing off possession into goals. Congratulations to the whole team, a score line of 70-21 is a great start to the 2010 PCNL campaign. Squad:  Keren, Claire, Kate E, Sam, Kara, Joey, Jodie, Steph, Naomi, Alison, Tanya and Barb.

On Sunday morning, with aches, blisters and bruises from Saturday fresh in everyone’s minds we took on the 2009 PCNL champions Riptide from the Waves. This was a highly anticipated game, and it began at a high tempo, both teams going goal for goal for the first few minutes. San Diego were scoring freely and toward the end of the first quarter turnovers by Kerrin, Tanya and Alison in defense let us pull away by 9 goals. This trend continued into the second quarter, with a half time lead of 12 to San Diego. Jodie and Lisa had played a great centre court combination for 2 quarters, running their socks off and providing some awesome passes into the circle. During the second half, some of the pace went out of the game, with a little of the quality. An injury to Lisa in a nasty clash led to more changes but at ¾ time we had held onto our lead. The final quarter saw lots of turnovers for both teams, but the Riptide defense was not able to stem the San Diego attack – their sometimes formidable zone defense didn’t prove a problem as our centre court now led by Sam and Kara, found a way through, with Keren still running the attack after a full tournament and 2 full games! The final whistle went after the last 15 mins of some scrappy play, some beautiful moments, a little too much backtalk, and a lot of effort, leaving San Diego victorious 56-43.

Congratulations to everyone, and particular thanks to Claire and Barb on the bench on Sunday, to Sharon for timekeeping, David for scoring, Karen for her physio skills, and to those who came out to shout and show support. Undefeated so far in 2010 – keep this going girls and lets bring the PCNL title to San Diego!

LaLaLand, September 12th/13th

5th out of 13!!  Go United!!

Thanks to everyone for coming up even if it was for one day. .  A Big Thank You to Sam and Kate for hanging in there for having to do all of the shooting after having 2 days of Staples Center training and the big event!

AND a thank you to Sharon for umpiring all weekend and stepping up for games you werent scheduled to do.  Even though I know your heart was with us on court, and not sure how you managed to have the willpower not to grab a bib??

Coach’s report:
The weekend of netball was a long one, and despite lost toenails, indecent scratches and a mighty impressive bruised forearm, San Diego posted a respectable 5th place. We actually lost more matches than we won, but thanks to our habit of strong performances against the best teams, we always came away with points if not the win. Losing by only a couple of goals to Stars, Riptide and  Crusaders 1, San Diego really pushed teams with far greater experience all the way. On Saturday Tanya was on her best disruptive form, hoovering up intercepts and rebounds all day, her defensive duties were assumed by Alison on Sunday who kept up the pace and motivation for the team. Naomi did a great job in defense, defying height restrictions time and again and always looking to kickstart our attacks. Player of the weekend though has to be Kelly – never stopped running, and gave simply the best guide to defensive ‘art’ when playing the guys from New York!
Thanks everyone, was a lot of fun, bring on San Fran!

Riptide – L
Tidal – L
Longboards – W
Stars – L
Comets – W
Phoenix – W
Crusaders 1 – L
Crusaders 2 – L
Seattle – W
Cowgirls – W
Navigators – L
MINC – L

Fun in the Sun May 2009

A great weekend was had by all – well done everyone for turning up, helping out and making it a success, both in terms of a fun day of netball and as a monetary return for the club!

Our Fun in the Sun tournament on Saturday was the biggest event we’ve hosted as a club, with 8 teams participating – 3 from the Waves (Riptide, Tidal and Youth), 2 of our own (Whales and Dolphins), Phoenix (Heat), Thousand Oaks (Comets) and San Fransisco (Stars).  There was a lot of organization needed right up to the last minute but everything went off without a hitch on the day.  A massive thank you to everyone for helping out by just taking part but especially to Barbara for organizing the donated goods for the snack stand and  Lisa for coordinating the raffle items – our 2 big money-makers for the year.  Thanks also to Kate for coordinating the schedule, which  worked smoothly and to Heather and Tanya for bringing. all the equipment.

We easily met one of our year’s goals this weekend – to field 2 teams for a tournament.  Named by our coach, Shamu, (Kate) the Dolphins were in pool Y and Whales in pool G.  The Dolphins had 2 great wins against Heat and Waves Youth and played valiantly against Riptide in their final game of Round 1, to finish second in  the yellow pool.  Well done Tanya for picking off all those loose balls in defense.  The Whales did really well, beating all the teams in their pool (Stars, Comets and Tidal)  to finish top, with amazing shooting from Keren, Sam and Kate.  However this meant that we were fielding both our teams against each other in the second round.   A shame, as we hoped to face each other in the final.  As it turned out, Whales won, which meant that United was heading for that said final.  The Dolphins then played the Stars for 3rd and 4th place – not an easy task.  The Dolphins battled it out but, unfortunately, the Stars prevailed.  However, I think that Captain Livy had a great consolation prize for her team in her cooler!

The Stars then played Riptide for a spot against the Whales in the last game.  Thank you to Keren and Alison for umpiring that difficult match, which Riptide won in the end.

In the final game against them,  the play was quite even to a point.  We were a competitive match for the Waves first team and should have won but they had the edge, forcing us to make some errors, thereby losing the game 10-8.  It was close and we gave it our best shot.  Good try ladies!

Another big thanks to Sam for organizing our Saturday night social at Jack’s, La Jolla.  The Stars and Heat came along and it was a wonderful way to relax and mingle after a long day of exercise.  Sam, you are our social guru!

Sunday was a fun day for all who showed up.  Thanks to the Stars, Heat (even Ava with her injured foot) and to the San Diego boys who came to play.  We played 4 full quarters, swapping players and mixing the squads for an enjoyable extension to the “Fun in the Sun” tournament ethos.  Coffee and croissants certainly perked up the players!

Thanks again to all of you who played – Alison, Barbara, Burnadette, Cath, Celia, Heather, Kelly, Keren, Lisa, Livy, Kate D. Kate E., Naomi,  Rachel, Sam, , Tanya and Zoe.  And also to the umpires – Kate, Alison and Keren.   A final congratulations to our MVPs – Naomi of the Dolphins and Sam of the Whales.  You certainly both deserve the title.

It was wonderful to have so many United players out this weekend.  There were many comments made as to the growth of our club and our sportsman-like conduct.  Way to go girls!

Sharon

A Successful Day for United! April 5, 2009

Today was a good day for the club, beating first the Comets 28-16 and then Tidal 28-27. It was a warm day to play, especially 2 hour long games back-to-back but everyone stepped up to the challenge and we prevailed.

The team for today consisted of Anthea, Barbara, Burnadette, Kate, Lisa, Livy, Rachel, Sam, Sharon and Zoe. Ants, Burnie, Barbara and Rachel did a great job in defense and Lisa, Livy, Sam and Zoe were our attack. Thanks to Burnie, Lisa, and Zoe for stepping up to take the Centre position today too.

The Comets game was quite close in the first 2 quarters, with us being ahead by only 2 goals after each break. Barbara did a great job as WD, keeping on her player the whole time and making herself free for the pass when the defense was bringing the ball down the court. We settled down in the 3rd quarter, gradually getting use to playing together and starting to think a bit more about our passing. During the final quarter things came together, the play slowed down and we were able to make every pass count. Great passes into the circle from Zoe and Lisa and nice shooting from Liv and Sam brought us home.

Tidal have improved their game tremendously, with new players and a  higher level of fitness. We were down by 5 goals after the first quarter, not quite finding our rhythm with a much faster paced game. However, the 2nd quarter saw us pull back and at the end of the 3rd quarter we were 2 goals ahead. By then we were getting a bit tired but, luckily for us, so were the Waves girls-which showed our determination as they had a large team and interchanged their players a lot. We kept the edge to the end to win by 1 goal. Anthea played doggedly, keeping really tight on the GA through the w! hole game and making them work hard to get into the circle. Burnadette kept going and made some great interceptions as centre and Rachel kept the pressure on with the constant stream of interchanging WAs (each with fresh legs). Again, great work by the attacking players with Sam and Lisa’s shooting skills making it count.

A big thanks to Kate for being there for us. It makes such a huge difference and we all appreciate your comments (even the harsh ones)!

See you all at training Tuesday

From Kate:
It was great to come and watch / umpire the girls today – there was lots to be really pleased with, even if the final 10 mins against Tidal really tested me to keep my mouth clamped shut! For the Players of the matches: In the first game against the comets , Lisa was really impressive, no loose ball ever gets past her, and she brought a lot of energy and drive to the attack – a great debut! Against Tidal Sharon was at her limpet best – the shooters (regardless of their height advantage could not find space, and the feeders lost all confidence to throw the ball anywhere near her. Well played girls, I was proud of you.

LaLaLand Tournament, Carson, LA November 14th-16th, 2008

Hi Everyone,

We never sent out an official thanks to all the girls that came up for the epic netball weekend in Carson for LA LA Land. Unfortunately this won’t be a detailed match report like Sharon does because I’m doing it but I’ll do my best to remember!

Louisa, Karen GP and I were up there on Friday night for the PCNL rep team match which started with some very tight official uniforms  and the Beep test BEFORE the match! That was a rude awakening – this team really is no joke and it was a pleasure to play with such talented girls at such a high level. Very humbling indeed! The PCNL team lost on Friday night to the Under 23 Alberta team but won both games on Sat and Sun against Seattle and the rematch against Alberta, which was a tasty revenge against the young spring chickens.

United had a rough start on Saturday getting to know each other on court having never played together before. Once we sorted that all out we were gellin’ like Magellan and really pulled through at the end there. I think the game against the Stars really proved that! Losing by 3 against a team which is pretty much 90% PCNL rep team members was pretty awesome.

The shalacking against Alberta was nowhere near as bad as I thought it would be and we have Sharon and Celia to thank for that – the fresh legs were absolutely essential. Thanks so much Sharon and Celia for coming up on Sunday to rescue us. We were all sore and limping old ladies (some of us with “broken femurs”) and having you there to help out in Centre and Shooter when we lost our shooters and had to reshuffle was awesome. It was a much closer match than the score represented and I think we can all agree that we felt pretty good at the end of that one – considering they were all UNDER 23!

Claire and Tanya – Thank you especially to both of you for playing 6 full games as our shooters on the Saturday! It only occurred to me at the end of the day that you guys were kind of stuck there because our need to rotate the center court positions (just way too much netball!) and our lack of other options for shooters.

Rach and Barb – Rock solid in defense as always. Barb your fitness keeps astounding me. Your always there putting pressure on every ball and sticking to your player like glue! So much so that the “dangerous play” warning for defending with your boozies was instigated! haha Rach when we put you in WD that was definitely your calling. You did a great job intercepting and getting lots of tips on passes and pressuring the pass. Awesome work.

Emma and Faye it was an absolute pleasure playing with you both. You’re such lovely girls and we’re really looking forward to the friendly matches we can play now that you guys have great numbers in Phoenix. We should definitely set something up. Oh and Faye, I really do think Centre might be your calling especially when I’m on your team….hehe

Karen GP – Thanks so much for being a trooper and playing through the ash and bad air quality! I know it was getting really tough for you by the end of the tournament but we couldn’t have survived without you (literally! I think we would have died) so we really appreciate you coming out on both days.

Louisa – The same goes for you. It was great to be able to rotate out our players and have such solid players to put in as our subs. As usual you did a great job and it was nice to see a friendly face on the court during the PCNL matches.

Sharon, Karen GP and Karen W (please pass on to Karen W) – A massive thank you for umpiring in between the multitude of matches while the rest of us got to relax. We really appreciate it and understand that it’s a pain in the ass being out there in the sun right after a match and sometimes needing to play again right after you umpire so thank you for sucking it up for us and representing us so well. Karen W thanks so much for your help in taking some of our umpiring slots. It really helped out the girls and made the day much more manageable for us. We’re glad we could offer you that game to at the very end!

All in all it was a great weekend. We only came away with 2 wins but had some close matches and some contested competition once we gelled together. Everyone chipped in with the scoring and it was great getting to know you all a little better. We extend an open invitation to the Phoenix and Comets girls to come play with us whenever you can’t make the numbers! Looking forward to more tourneys and hope to see you all at the International Day in January.

Happy holidays!

Sam
Original Message Emailed 12/14/08