The 2017 NPL Tournament took place in Nottingham from the 24th to 27th August. Spectators were treated to four days of thrilling netball games involving three age groups – U17, U19 and U21 – and three worthy teams became champions.
For the U17s, it was Manchester Thunder who battled their way through the tournament and fought off fierce competition to take the title. They beat Yorkshire Netball 32-23 in the final to take the gold medal. It was an entertaining final between two teams with plenty of exciting up-and-coming young players on show. Interestingly, the score in the third/fourth play-off was also 32-23 with London Pulse triumphing against Hertfordshire Mavericks to win the bronze medal.
Similarly, in the U19s category it was Manchester Thunder and Yorkshire Netball who reached the final. This exhilarating final saw Thunder secure the win with a score of 51-32 – leaving Yorkshire Netball as the U19 runners up. It was London Pulse who were the clear winners in the third/fourth play-off, beating Team Northumbria 63-36 to secure the bronze.
Throughout the tournament the U21 games were exciting to watch. Wasps Netball beat Team Bath 64-46 to end the tournament in 3rd place. Surrey Storm came 5th, followed by Team Northumbria in 6th. After fighting their way to the final, Loughborough Lightning and Hertfordshire Mavericks were both determined to be crowned champions. This U21 final certainly did not disappoint as it took extra time to separate the two teams – what an intense game! In the end it was Loughborough Lightning who rose to the occasion and claimed gold by just two goals with the final score at 50-48.
Thank you to everyone involved in making this tournament possible: teams, coaches, officials, and volunteers. Also, thank you to all the spectators who supported the teams throughout the competition.
Finally, a huge congratulations to all teams involved in the 2017 NPL Tournament. What an exciting weekend of netball indeed!
The full set of results can be found here: Overall NPL Tournament Results
