On Thursday 22 August, the World Youth Netball Championships 2013 came to Glasgow. This major sporting event involved the top twenty-two countries in the world competing to become the overall winning team. Braidhurst High School’s netball team observed the opening ceremony that would begin eleven days of fast, exciting and fiercely competitive netball.

The opening ceremony was full of cultural entertainment including traditional Scottish dancing and music which welcomed the spectators and the other many countries from around the globe. Girls from Braidhurst witnessed the spectacular opening match between the hosts of the games, Scotland against the Cayman Islands. The match offered an insight of the international standard of netball and proved to be inspirational to the girls. The game was fast and exciting and the Scottish Thistles made a strong start to the game and were able to secure the first win of the tournament. The final score stood at 73-23 and proved encouraging and promising for days to come. Overall, the opening ceremony was an inspiring experience for the team.

The S4 team members were privileged to be invited to be a part of Ball Patrol. Their job was to retrieve the ball when it went out of play. This was a very important job, as every second counted in the matches. It was a very valuable experience and a great opportunity for the girls to get a close up view of different techniques and valuable skills to take on board. The team executed this task well and are appreciative for this experience.

The whole Braidhurst netball team thoroughly enjoyed the experience and were very proud to be a part of the World Youth Netball Championships.

By Gillian Scott and Rebecca Murray

BRAIDHURST HS v St MARGARETS HS

With the first game of the school year arriving and so many boys wanting to play for the school, the pupils selected to play in the first game knew this was their chance to shine on the pitch and off it.  The weather conditions were not conducive to flowing football but the Braidy boys were keen to get started and attempt to stamp their mark on the game early doors.  From KO Braidhurst dominated the possession and make inroads into the St Margaret’s defence but the ball in the final 3^rd just wasn’t quite up to scratch to give the forwards a chance to score.  The first half was a very controlled performance from the Braidhurst team as they stroked the ball around the pitch to try to find a space to attack.  St Margaret’s continually had an answer and often tried to catch Braidhurst on the counter attack, calm defending from the back four and GK ensured that St Margaret’s were unable to score.  As the half time whistle approached the first round of substitutes were made.  Braidhurst continued to dominate possession but knew that St Margaret’s were very capable of building a quick counter attack.

At the beginning of the second half there were numerous changes to the starting 11.  These changes soon made an impact and after good team play by James Miller scored to make it 1-0 Braidhurst.  St Margaret’s were keen to get back in the game and straight from the KO threatened as some of the Braidy boys began to slacken, however they pulled together as a team to ensure that the score remained

Ten minutes later Kyle Cunningham popped up to score and increase the lead to 2-0.  Braidhurst were very much in the driving position as we approached the end of the game and had started to put more pressure on our opponents.  Kyle Cunningham scored again to add to his previous goal, making the score 3-0 and putting the game out of sight.  Braidhurst were not content with 3 and continued to push for more.  In the 53^rd minute, James miller scored again to make it 4-0.  In the last minute of the game, Reece Geddes fancied his chanced from a distance and after a deflection beat the GK to make it 5-0.  Well done to all the boys who played, their behaviour, effort and attitude were a credit to the school both on and off the pitch.

Goal Scorers

Kyle Cunningham: (2)

James Miller: (2)

Reece Geddes: (1)

Man of the Match:     Adam Greer