The Maitland Opens and Kurri Kurri under-15s have returned with silver after successful campaigns by Coalfields teams at the state netball titles over the long-weekend.
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Maitland's opens team which had an average age of 18 finished runners up in the Division 2 titles and is likely to earn promotion to the champions competition next year, likely at the expense of Kurri Kurri which unfortunately didn't record a win this year in the top grade.
The Kurri Kurri girls were cheered on by the open and under-17 teams in their must-win final game to secure a top two spot. They recorded the win and just missed out on securing the title with West Wyalong champions on points difference over the tournament.
Maitland Netball Association president Kim Starkey said in had been an incredible effort by the young opens team to claim silver.
"Going into state with a very young team with an average age of 18 and lack of experience and height for playing in the opens division was always going to be a hard task," Starkey said.
"By taking advantage of our strengths we were able to achieve a fantastic result. Our ability to turn balls over throughout the whole court was definitely a standout over the three days .
"Ulladulla were the eventual winners with Maitland coming in second on a count back with Ballina in an extremely close contest.
"Our 17s has a great championships as well coming in 10th. They are a young team that will be a strong force going into the future.
"Our 15s represented Maitland with great spirit, coming up against some tough competition, the girls finished 11th."
Kurri Kurri Netball Association's Jess Stephens said everyone was extremely proud of the under-15s' efforts.
"Our 15s were top of the table at the end of both day one and two The last game was a must win to finish in the top two but it was hard with the loss of their GS the game before through injury," she said.
"They won and less than one per cent on goal average separated them from second and title. One of Kurri's most experienced coaches in Kay Desmond did a great job with them."
The 17s and open team, who forfeited their last game to back drive to the venue, were on the sidelines to cheer on the 15s.
The 17s finished with two wins and three draws over the weekend.