Talented school team takes out cup after undefeated run

Rockingham Senior High School’s Year 7/8 specialist netball team have shown the State what they are made of, coming home as 2017 High School Cup champions.

The talented team of 12 won cup following an undefeated run which began with two full-day carnivals and after-school games.

Having progressed through the early stages undefeated, the team faced Manjimup Senior High School in a tightly contested semifinal, with the girls recovering from a slow start to win by seven points.

Led by coaches Siobhan Jones and Kellie Murphy the team’s journey culminated in a grand final against Willeton Senior High School on August 16, which they won 28-21 for the championship.

Jones hailed the efforts of the team as they beat several established netball schools including Governor Stirling Senior High School, Mandurah Catholic College, Darling Range Sports College, Melville Senior High School and Warwick Senior High School en route to the final.

“We are very proud of the girls’ achievements — finishing first out of 140 teams is a great effort and reflects on the hard work that the girls put in,” Jones said.

The coaches also paid tribute to the efforts of the Year 9/10 team, who had an impressive run in their division as they finished in the top 16 out of 130 teams.

The team that won the cup was selected based on training performances in specialist netball classes and included Daisy Bright, Sapphira Campbell, Sophie Cunningham, Ramaera Tapara-Pu, Layla Valenti and Holly Bartlett.

Nikita Hardy, Hannah Heruela, Gemma Tucker, Lauren Wakfer, Zoe Wakfer and Mia Wemm were also part of the team, which was the first in the school’s netball program to go undefeated and win a major cup.