The Trangie Central School Under 14s netball team has taken out the Ronny Gibbs 20th Anniversary Rugby League and Netball Tournament.The highly contensted tournament is hosted by the Far West Academy of Sport and was held in Bourke last Wednesday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Being the 20th anniversary of the event, this year was extra special and there were guest appearances from rugby league personalities such as Laurie Daley, Mario Fenech, Nathan Merritt, David Peachey, Nigel Plum and Wendell Sailor.
A record number of 39 teams represented 12 schools in the netball and rugby league. The 12 schools from across the Far West region included schools from Baradine, Bourke, Brewarrina, Cobar, Gilgandra, Goodooga, Lightning Ridge, Menindee, Nyngan, Trangie, Walgett and Warren.
The honours were shared evenly amongst the schools with Trangie claiming the U14s title when they were too strong for Walgett in a rematch of last year's under 14s netball final while the Baradine fell one game short again this year being defeated by Gilgandra in the opens netball final.
Meanwhile in rugby league Nyngan won the U14's Rugby League and Warren finished runners-up. Bourke defeated Gilgandra for the second straight year in the finals to win their third consecutive opens rugby league division title.
FWAS Programs and Development Officer, Jarrad Linton Harland, was thrilled with the day and the talent on display.
"The schools are always great supporters of the event and it wouldn't be possible without their support as we had the highest number of team nominations for the event ever this year with 39, which is a great way to celebrate the 20th year of this great event," said Mr Linton Harland.
"Teams are continuing to travel from as far Baradine and Gilgandra to compete in the event which is a great effort and greatly appreciated by the academy and all organisers of the Ronny Gibbs 7's.
"The level of talent in both the rugby league and netball was outstanding again this year and seems to get better and better each year as there were some great games in both competitions throughout the course of the day.
"We hope that all the players participate in the Far West Academy of Sport's upcoming rugby league and netball programs, with trials being held in Warren, Cobar and Broken Hill for netball and Binnaway, Gilgandra, Nyngan, Bourke, Walgett and Broken Hill for the rugby league in early October for both sports."
Ronny Gibbs, NRL Development Officer, was also pleased with the day.
"The day was simply outstanding," said Mr Gibbs.
"It's great to see so many schools supporting the event again this year and to see over 350 kids enjoying playing sport is brilliant which is what the day is all about.
"The day just keeps getting bigger and better every year and I already can't wait for next year."
The FWAS would like to thank everyone that was involved in running the day but in particular the NRL Development for their assistance in running the rugby league competitions, NSW Sport & Recreation - Katrina Hausia and Jason French for their assistance in running the netball competitions on the day andthe Bourke Shire Council for all their continued support in hosting such a great event.
Also a big thanks to the NRL clubs that donated prizes, Steve Hall and NSWRL, CRL and NRL for their continued support of the event and organising for NSW and Australian Coach Laurie Daley and ex-NRL players Mario Fenech, Nathan Merritt, David Peachey, Nigel Plum and Wendell Sailor available to attend the event.
Most importantly we would like to thank the schools for their participation and all the volunteers, umpires and referees who assisted throughout the day.
