Holmwood rule the roost in 2023

HOLMWOOD TECHNICAL’S netballers took pride of place in schoolgirl netball in 2023.

Competing in the ISSA Schoolgirl Netball competition, the Carline Graham-Powell-coached senior team stole the spotlight toward the back end of the year.

Competing in the rural competition, the team picked up their 14th title, getting the better of defending champions, Glenmuir High School, in a very close affair.

They would go on to rule the country.

Competing in the All-Island final, they overcame a determined St Catherine High School, winners of the urban final, in another close affair.

The all-island title was Holmwood’s 12th, making them the most successful schoolgirl netball team ever.

Holmwood’s juniors, the defending Rural and All-Island champions, were beaten by Manchester High.

It was also a good season for the Marvette Anderson-coached The Queen’s School’s juniors, who defied the odds to win their seventh ISSA All-Island title with a surprise win over Manchester.

Queen’s had only managed to scrape through to the second round of the urban competition, qualifying as the second-best, third-placed team. From there on, however, there was no stopping them as they grew more confident with each encounter and in the end scored an easy win over Wolmer’s Girls to capture the urban title.

The Connie Francis-coached Mico University continued their impressive record in Intercollegiate netball, their senior team outclassed G.C. Foster College in the final, winning their seventh title in eight years.

Since the COVID-19 pandemic, there has been a lull in the Business House competition, which only returned to normalcy in 2023 following a condensed competition the previous year.

Perennial winners, National Housing Trust, led by Sunshine Girl Nicole Dixon-Rochester and several past national senior representatives, again stood atop the podium.

But it wasn’t easy, the Christopher Smart-coached team squeezing out a one-point win over Scotiabank to maintain their hold on the title.

Raymond Graham