JOSEPH Rowntree's star netballers have returned to York after proving their worth among the best netball teams in the country at the National Schools' Netball Finals in Essex.

Jo Ro, the only school in the country to have three teams in the finals, missed out on gold on court, but returned home with the Endeavour Award for their outstanding attitude.

And teacher Trish Farrow - the sole coach - has also been nominated for the England Netball Teacher of the Year Award by the North Yorkshire committee for her efforts.

The Under-14s fared best after winning four and losing four to end up ninth out of 5,000 schools.

U14s goalkeeper and player of the tournament Chloe Shipley said: "The atmosphere was awesome, parents with their pompoms and 'supercoach Farrow' cheering us on.

"We won our first three matches and the team spirit carried us through the rest of the matches with our heads held high."

The U19s rounded off seven years of playing together with a top 13 finish.

Goal attack Emily Fowler said: "The competition was a lot harder than we could ever have imagined.

"We had some extremely tough games, but player-of-the-tournament Mel Ward's top shooting and Emily Fowler's captaincy meant we could give everyone a good game."

From the first game, the U16s knew they were in for a tough battle but drew against former national champions in the second match and ended up 15th overall.

Cheryl Fairclough shone as the player of the day after keeping the team focused with a consistent attacking performance.

Wing defence Emily Armstrong summed up: "After five years of playing together we have a great team spirit which has seen us through triumph and defeat. It was a privilege to represent the Yorkshire and Humberside region and to be under the leadership of a great coach who so strongly believes in us."

The girls only made it to the finals after an epic fundraising effort to cover travel and accommodation costs, which was compounded by the initial postponement of the tournament due to frost.

In the end, more than £4,000 was generated through events including a sponsored leg wax and donations from, among others, Ralph Butterfield Primary School, the Joseph Rowntree Foundation and the York and District Sports Federation.

Updated: 09:14 Saturday, May 21, 2005