Swaythling Chicks have the potential to become a good team - once they remember netball is a non-contact sport!

I watched them play Romsey Ladies recently - and they played very well but needed to stop running around all over the court and stay in their playing areas to avoid running into their own teammates!

But it's the first season the team have played in the summer league and spring league in Southampton, with the girls come from schools all over the city.

The game started off quickly and both teams needed to slow the pace and play more steadily if they were going to last out until the end.

You can see that, although Chicks lack a little experience at the moment, within a couple of seasons they will be a very good outfit.

At the end of the first quarter Romsey Ladies were leading 6-0.

A few changes in the Chicks team and they started to work harder for each other and worked the ball around the court well. They did need to convert the goals when they had the chance and in this quarter they scored their first goal.

They played with a great attitude and, although they trailed 11-1 at half-time, their spirits did not lower.

Romsey produced some good netball and used their interceptions to great advantage by scoring a goal on 99 per cent of them.

Swaythling made a few more changes at the breaks and not one of the girls gave up as they worked until the final whistle.

The final score was 22-5 to Romsey Ladies but the young Chicks still came off court having enjoyed the game.

LET'S MEET THE TEAM:

Lucy Gibbs - The 14-year-old St Anne's School pupil plays goal shooter/keeper and wing attack. After playing for five years, she wants to continue.

Emma Stephenson - 14 years old and attending St Anne's School, defence player Emma has been playing between five and six years. Emma finds the game fun. Her goal is to play for Hampshire.

Jess Donaldson - Jess also likes playing netball as it is a great way to meet friends, but she also enjoys all sports, especially rounders. She is 13 years old and attends Sholing Technology College. She plays centre and wing attack.

Denise Chandler - 16 years old and attending Regents Park Girls School, Denise has been playing on and off since the age of seven. Her main position on the court is wing defence but lately she has been playing goal defence. Denise became interested in netball through her mum, who also plays for Swaythling. Her other hobbies include volleyball and horseriding.

Emma Wallace - A netball player for three years, the13-year-old, attends Sholing Technology College. She decided to join Swaythling as some of her friends were at the club and it is a 'fun' team. In her spare time, Emma likes to go into town and plays netball and rounders for the school.

Becks Carpenter - 15 years old, she attends Regents Park Girls School and has been playing for about seven years. She enjoys the team effort and fitness benefit. Becks likes to play all sports and recently came back from an Austrian skiing trip.

Chinonso Nwoguh - The14 year-old St Anne's School pupil has been playing for four years having found out about the team through a friend. Her other hobbies include, shopping and athletics. In the future, she would like to play netball for an elite club.

Becky Fairman - 14 years old and attending St Anne's School, she has been playing for eight years. Her mum also played at school so Becky has been surrounded by it since she was small. She also enjoys shopping, sport and music

Vicky Norlan - Another 15-year-old St Anne's School pupil, she has been playing for six years at school and has only just recently joined the Swaythling Chicks.

Emma Barnard - 14 years old, has been playing netball for seven years and enjoys it very much. She plays in the school team at Sholing Technology College and likes the centre position.

Other squad members - Hollie Jones, Sarah Hayner and Lucy Heaton

Coach - Joanne Pearce - only 18 years old yet has coached the team for six months. She shows a maturity and positive attitude to the girls even though she is only a few years older than most of them. Has benefited from watching her mum, Morag, coach players.