17th January saw many fixtures taking place, not least of all the first netball matches of the season.

The day’s main opponents were Roedean School, who offered a great challenge to Christ’s Hospital players.

The fixture took place on the CH netball courts, alongside matches of the second and third teams.

The first team, made up of Deps and Grecians (Year 12 and 13), began their match at 1 pm.

From the beginning, CH played fiercely, scoring two goals in the first three minutes. The home team’s defence was strong, barring the opposition from scoring any goals. The first quarter ended with an impressive score of 13-0 to CH.

Allegra, a player within the match, mentioned that despite it being difficult to return to fitness levels from last season, the team played well: ‘we have a really strong team this year…but Roedean brought some really good players.’

Throughout the second and third quarters, both teams played energetically and showed great determination.

The away team turned over the ball from defence to attack very quickly and efficiently, posing a challenge to CH defenders. 

In the last quarter, changes were made, as Allegra mentions: ‘a lot of use switched positions to challenge ourselves, make it a bit more competitive.’

In Allegra’s case, she had moved from centre to goal attack, a considerably different position: ‘I don’t feel like I’m the strongest shooter by far, so it’s definitely daunting having to take up someone else’s place, but it can be quite fun.’

Despite this, the final score was 34-8 to Christ’s Hospital.

The skill of players on both teams made for an entertaining game, particularly in the bitter weather — a great game to start the netball season.