KNA 2024: Three strong teams garner impressive results at annual Go & Play Association Championships in Perth

Three teams from Katanning Netball Association headed to Perth for the Fuel to Go & Play Association Championships on the June long weekend - with the 14-and under side winning their grand final.

The event drew more than 4200 passionate players from all corners of the State, including as far as Esperance and Kununurra, with 300 teams from 43 associations hitting the courts for the three-day annual tournament.

This year there were two interstate teams from the Northern Territory and 16 invitational teams from Singapore.

The weekend also highlighted 100 years of netball in WA.

The start of women’s netball in WA is marked as 1924, and the sport has evolved from the social gathering-type game to the serious competition today.

KNA sent a 12-and-under, 14-and-under and a 16-and-under team to the city.

With KNA’s development officer Kelly Holzknecht getting players ready at the beginning of the year, they have been training and getting prepared for the huge weekend.

She has worked with selected coaches and players for months on skills strategies in all areas of the court and fostering team bonding behaviours.

The teams showed their camaraderie and resilience at the tournament, enduring conditions ranging from sunshine to slamming rain.

The 12-and-under team, coached by Kirsty Flugge, displayed fantastic skills to secure a superb five wins from six matches, finishing up in the grand final as runners-up for their division against Corrigin & Districts.

The 14-and-under side, coached by Tania Edwards, had a nailbiting weekend, finishing with two wins, two draws and one loss from their five games.

In the finals they defeated Manjimup, which led them to the grand final against Collie.

Toe-to-toe all game, Katanning pushed that extra bit and clinched grand final glory with a 19-17 victory.

The 16-and-under team, coached by Kelly Holzknecht, won three of their five matches.

Unfortunately, Belmont defeated them in the first round of finals, with Katanning finishing fourth in their division.

All grades will return to normal fixtures in Katanning this Saturday at the Katanning Leisure Centre.