Both Juniors 1 and Juniors 2 were in the Premier division this season. Juniors 1 had an excellent season, only losing in their last match to Spirit, but still doing enough to take the championship. The defence of Jamie, Lily & Hristiyana were fearsome at the start of the season and kept us in games whilst the front court took some time to settle. However the shooting combinations of Maddie, Dixie & Grace developed their understanding of each other and showed some extremely dynamic movement and super shooting as the season progressed. The mid-court was also solid throughout, with Liv & Anna tireless on defence and dynamic in attack, and Molly & Hollie showing their empathy and great feeding into the circle. Sadly injuries to Hristi and Hollie meant them missing a lot of the season, however Freya & Isabel came into the team, fitting in seamlessly and showing great maturity. They were fantastic and well deserved league champs.

Juniors 2 struggled initially as the mid court lacked a little bit of experience which meant that although the defensive trio of Isabel, Freya and Annabel were turning over lots of ball, we were struggling to get it through to our shooting circle. However, as the season progressed the versatile Holly, Katie, Eloisa and Adeshewa kept improving, thanks to their hard working attitude. The shooting foursome of Megan, Tia, Maddie and Rubie suffered from a lack of consistency at the start of the season, with fab play at times, followed by a loss of shooting accuracy. The injection of Jess who moved up from Juniors 3, sparked a run of really good wins, with the team able to capitalise on her height and good positioning in the shooting circle (and she also had some fab quarters at her more familiar position of GD). Siena also moved up from Juniors 3 and took on the defensive mantle when Isabel and Freya were promoted. A creditable 3rd place finishing was a great reward for this hard working team.

Juniors 3 had a bit of a struggle with lots of new players to the club learning to play together, and improve on their basic skills. The defence of Siena, Jess, Rhea and Mia all worked tremendously hard, and made plenty of interceptions, as did Divine when she joined the team. The centre court consisted of our small but mighty foursome of Maisie, Isla, Daisy & Lily, and whilst their height meant that sometimes they weren't able to execute their passes, they worked hard on their changes of direction and timing and tried hard to give the team a good pattern of play. The shooters were initially Sadie, Maisie and Zara, and as the season progressed, they had better understanding of each others play and the way they should combine. In the second half of the season Gwennie and Katie also joined the team, with Katie showing her good game awareness and Gwennie bringing some much needed power and athleticism to the team. They may have only won 1 match but the improvement was visible across the season!

Minis 1, with eight U12s and three U11s, were simply awesome in Division 2, not losing a match, and with only a couple that felt close. Ella & Sophia were completely dominant in the shooting circle, with defences having no answer to their timing and variety. Rebecca started quietly and got stronger and stronger as the season progressed, showing great game awareness when combining with the others. Tallulah spent the first half of the season on the bench with an injury but made an impact when she returned showing off some fabulous awareness and holding of space. The mid court general was Louisa who always showed great power and vision, and with Poppy, Roxie and Holly all feeding beautifully and defending hard, they made it very difficult for their opposition to transition the ball through court. With only 2 specialist defenders in Florence & Tiggy (both of whom shoot for their school teams), the pair showed they meant business from the outset with amazing interceptions and great back up through court. Well done to the shooters who also filled in the defence when needed, showing their versatility. An unbeaten league season is a rare thing for any team and we are very proud of their phenomenal performance.

Minis 2 were as usual, a mixture of ages and experience. The more experienced older ones of Madison, Rhianna, Millie, Freya and Sophia worked really hard to support their team mates and to put into practice skills learnt at training. Alice, despite only being 10, really stepped up a gear and is proving to be a formidable defender and Tarys was a fantastic addition to the team with her natural defensive ability and strength. Our new younger girls, Lia, Sophie, Zoe & Emma all showed great improvement throughout the season, as did Macie who showed great game knowledge for such a young one! The team won a couple of matches, which is more than Minis 2 of previous years, so that was very pleasing and bodes well for the future.

A winter tournament was held for Division 3 only, however we managed to enter two teams, supplementing the Minis 2 girls with some of our Minis 1. Minis B (Elina, Freya, Millie, Alice, Lia, Sophie, Zoe, Emma & Macie) showed how much improvement they have made over the season, winning 4 games and losing 3, to finish in a fantastic 3rd place! Minis A (Sophia, Tallulah, Roxie, Holly, Poppy, Rhianna, Madison, Tiggy & Tarys) were simply unstoppable, winning all their matches without conceding a goal to become tournament champions.

All in all a very successful winter season for the Juniors and Minis, with hard work and improvement on display from everyone. Looking forward to some better weather and less disruption for the summer league!