Both teams had a tough three days playing 23 games a piece with the Opens finishing in seventh place and the 17s finishing in ninth. 

The Opens spent Saturday getting used to playing together having never had a training session.

At the end of day one they came away with three wins, three losses and two draws. 

However, by day two the team had ironed out the creases finishing with five wins and two losses and with the girls constantly improving they then managed to win six games out of seven on Monday. 

A highlight was the team’s defence. Goal Defence Clair Oliver was a standout player, she anticipated play well and took multiple intercepts all over the court. She also put a lot of pressure on the other team’s shooters and wining a lot of contested rebounds.  

Another highlight was the patience the team showed in attack. They were able to slow the game down, making sure of passes and ensuring the goal shooters received the ball in range. 

Sapphire Coast Open’s player-coach Tyjana Thelan said she was over the moon with how the team played over the three days. 

“I'm extremely proud of the team in the way they carried themselves over the whole weekend,” Thelan said.

 “Considering some of the players had never met before, everyone worked hard all weekend and had a positive and determined attitude that was hard to beat.

“We only strengthened throughout the weekend and represented our area extremely well.”

The under 17 girls had a similar start to the opens coming away with three wins, three losses and a draw on day one. 

This was followed by an excellent day two where the young girls won six of their eight games. 

Unfortunately an injury to Goal Keeper Romy Cook weakened the team’s defence and left a big hole to fill. 

In order to fill the void, coach Michelle Kelly moved Goal Defence Rochelle Tarlinton to Keeper and put young gun Tamika Millard into GD. 

At only 14-years-old Tamika was one of the youngest players in the 17s competition, but Kelly said she “worked incredibly well putting pressure on oppositions attack”.

“The team showed heaps of spirit and improved each day. 

“We all had fun and I felt incredibly proud of the players because they pushed through exhaustion.”

The younger Sapphire Coast age groups will contest their State Championships the first weekend in July.