Kudos must be given to the National Sports Council (NSC) for staging what must be considered the best Pine Hill Primary Schools Netball and Bico Football finals this year.
The football clash between winners Wilkie Cumberbatch and West Terrace was enthralling while the netball battle between new champions Boscobel Primary and Blackman and Gollop was entertaining.
The battles on the field of play were matched by the large crowd of students, parents and supporters who cheered every move.
Further commendations are due to the NSC and senior coaches Adrian Donovan and Anna Shepherd, who I had thought were crazy to stage the football finals at the “out-of-the-way” flood-prone Trents ground in St James and the netball finals in the one o’clock sun at the uncovered Netball Stadium.
The rollicking time which was enjoyed by all justified the out-of-the-box decisions as hundreds journeyed to Trents.
The supporting schoolchildren savoured the performances of their schoolmates by frolicking on the greens long after the final whistle. The behaviour of the crowd was commendable since only the true and decent supporters made the trip to support their teams.
The filled stands at the Netball Stadium were not only noisy and supportive but the colourful flags and banners added to the festivity and enhanced the overall play of the two best teams who took part in the competition.
A special mention must be made of NSC coach Sonya Knight who once again shone in launching another country school team to the primary netball throne.
Sponsors Bico and Randy Harris got it right this year with the two football teams being outfitted in colours akin to their schools unlike previous years where the finalists were given the first shirts that were available.
The live radio coverage of the football finals and the availability of lists of the players on both teams greatly assisted the media in correctly spelling or calling those imaginative variants of surnames.
Sponsors Pine Hill added their touch of class to the netball finals with the fluorescent bibs matching the brilliance of those budding stars. Unfortunately, the organizers did not follow the footballers’ lead in providing lists of the two finalists.
Both groups fell down in the presentation ceremonies, with the footballers cramped into a tent with little provision for the media who needed to capture the event while the netballers’ presentation was done wherever the presenter felt comfortable.
Considering the overall success, I am confident that such minor slip-ups will be addressed in 2014.
