News & Updates

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Club News

U16 Nationals 2023 – Thunderbirds Ranked Again

Stratford Thunderbird U16 qualified once again for the England Netball National Clubs 2023 Finals, undefeated West Midlands Regional winners for the second year in a row.

Stratford Thunderbirds U16 Regional Champions 2023

The squad, coaches, volunteers and parents travelled to the Joan Brown Arena at the Redbridge Leisure Centre in Ilford on the 29th April for two days of fast-paced netball action amongst the top clubs in the country.

It wasn’t going to be easy in a season where injury had struck the team captain in the final regional game, meaning she could only lead from the bench for the whole weekend.

It was a slow start on Saturday losing our opening two games against Leeds Athletic (25-15) and KCNC (20-10). This reflected the high standard of competition and perhaps a few nerves on the part of a young team.

The second phase of the competition in the afternoon was a different story. Inspired by a lunchtime team talk from coaches Molly and Kelly, the girls looked a lot more like the team we’d seen throughout the regionals. A win against Charnwood Rutland (21-17) set the standard and it was followed by a very close game against the ultimate winners of the competition YWCA Bury with the 26-23 scoreline by far the closest any team came to beating them on the day. It raised a few eyebrows too – how could a team this good have lost two games in the morning?!

At the end of day one we were guaranteed a place in the top 12 from the pool of 18.

After a superbly-planned and executed meal out the girls were all in bed at a sensible time (thanks coach Kelly for reminding us parents when to go to sleep!) and enjoyed a decent hotel breakfast ready to go again.

Stratford Thunderbirds England Netball Nationals 2023 Day 2

On the second day, Showcasing the coveted pink and blue competition dresses which debuted last year, the girls played out two hard-fought games in the morning, the first a narrow defeat to Kingston Phoenix (25-24) following a strong comeback in the face of adveristy and secondly to AP Saints (22-16).  This set up a match against Sutton Town in the playoff for 11/12 position.

The final match of the competition played out as per our previous two matches against Sutton Town this season, with a win for Thunderbirds sealing 11th place.

All in all another performance to be hugely proud of. With our team captain confined to the bench and losing two more players to injury during proceedings, achieving 11th spot from an initial field of over 100 teams is an outstanding result of which everyone should be enormously proud.

Congratulations to all involved and see you again next year!

Stratford Thunderbirds England Netball U16 Club Competition 2023

 

 

 

Stratford Thunderbirds England Netball Nationals 2023 Teamtalk
Stratford Thunderbirds England Netball U16 Club Competition 2023
Stratford Thunderbirds England Netball U16 Club Competition 2023
Stratford Thunderbirds England Netball U16 Club Competition 2023
Stratford Thunderbirds England Netball U16 Club Competition 2023
Stratford Thunderbirds England Netball U16 Club Competition 2023
Stratford Thunderbirds England Netball U16 Club Competition 2023

What a Weekend! U16s Top 4 in the Country!

What an amazing weekend at the England Netball National Clubs U16 Finals! In our first appearance at the event the Thunderbirds U16 Competition Squad stormed to a fourth place finish in a prestigious field of the 18 top teams from around the country. Our journey...

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Nationals Here We Come!

This weekend sees our U16 Competition Squad competing in the England Netball National Club Finals having qualified as undefeated West Midlands Regional Champions. The team will be making history for Thunderbirds as the first squad to qualify for the finals since the...

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Training the next generation of Umpires

We were delighted to receive a Magic Little Grant of £500 to support the training of a number of our girls as umpires. Several have now passed England Netball's Into Officiating Course, the first step on the officiating pathway. The Magic Little Grants are provided...

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Happy Holidays!

In spite of another challenging year in 2021, we've enjoyed lots of court time, some great successes and continued growth as a club. Record numbers of our girls have achieved franchise places with the club strongly represented at at Loughborough Lightning, Wasps and...

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Sponsorship News

New Sponsor – A Star Tuition

New Sponsor – A Star Tuition

We are thrilled to announce that A Star Tuition are the latest local business to become a “Friend of Thunderbirds”. Their much appreciated support will help the club with the costs of equipment such as balls, bibs, rebound nets. A Star Tuition specialise in preparing...

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New Sponsor – Crazy Catch

New Sponsor – Crazy Catch

You will be familiar with the latest “Friends of Thunderbirds”- Crazy Catch! Kate Costin, Marketing Manager of their UK distributor, Flicx UK, stated:  “We are delighted to be teaming up with Stratford Thunderbirds. It is clear to see they are a club on the rise, and...

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Looking for historical news about the club?

 

Stratford Thunderbirds have been established since 2015 and released regular Newsletters from the very start.

 

These newsletters can be viewed in our Newsletter Archive. It’s a great way to get to know us!