The Netball squad have reached Brentwood School's history books as the first team ever to reach national finals! Team coaches, Justine Saunders and Wendy Juniper at Brentwood School said ‘We have every confidence in their ability and they have worked hard to achieve this success.  We are incredibly proud of each and every member of the squad who have shown a huge amount of team spirit and dedication of the whole squad. The girls gave above and beyond and thoroughly deserve their title - East of England Champions! This success is borne out of 7 years of commitment, passion and many hours of training'.

On Saturday 2nd February the Regional Round of the National Schools Netball Championships took place at Hassenbrook School, Stanford le Hope. The Tournament sees three age groups compete for their respective titles of Under 14, Under 16 and Under 19 East of England Champions.

In the Under 19 section, twelve teams from the counties of Essex, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, Suffolk and Thurrock competed. Brentwood School were the Essex representatives, having won their County round earlier in the season, beating local rivals Chelmsford County High School in the final.

Early sectional matches against Wymondham College, Norfolk and Thurston School, Suffolk saw Brentwood make a confident start to the tournament, with two convincing victories. Outstanding defensive play from current England U19 defender, Abigail Ryan and Goal Defence Laura Juniper limited the opposition to just 3 and 4 goals respectively. A difficult and controversial third match against Parmiters, Hertfordshire, resulted in a 7 - 7 draw and called upon the tenacity and considerable skill of centre court players Louise Bishop, Charlotte Monk, and captain, Hayley Wood to equal the scores at the final whistle. Wootten Upper, Bedfordshire, and Thomas Deacon, Cambridgeshire provided the opposition for the last two sectional matches. Superb shooting from both Stephanie Whitfield and Rosie Daley saw the Brentwood team dominate both matches and result in 15 -7 and 21 - 0 victories - and a place in the semi-final.

An incredibly fast and competitive semi-final against a very strong and physical Broxbourne team saw Brentwood down by 2 goals at the half-time break. However, undeterred by the physical nature of the match Brentwood produced some superb netball in all areas of the court to pull the scores back to 7 - 7 late in the second half. With only seconds to go, an outstanding interception by Ryan and controlled court play throughout the team provided Whitfield with the opportunity to win the game for Brentwood in the dying seconds. A cool head and incredibly consistent shooting meant she unhesitatingly took on the challenge, successfully converting the shot - gaining Brentwood a place in the Final, against Chelmsford County High.

The final required every ounce of effort the girls could muster!! A long and physically demanding day did not prevent both teams from producing an exciting and extremely close fought final. Chelmsford took an early lead and by half time lead by 3 goals. Again, Brentwood fought back. Tight defending and fast skilful attacking play by the whole team created goal after goal for Brentwood. Once again, in the dying seconds, a goal from Brentwood meant a 7 - 6 victory and the title of East of England Under 19 Champions.