Gippsland and Latrobe Valley stunned the Victorian Netball State Titles Open competition, coming sixth and fifth, respectively.

Netball Victoria’s State Titles is an opportunity for all 19 regions across Victoria to compete in 15&U Female, 17&U Female, 17&U Male, Open Female, and mixed All Abilities competitions.

Teams play in a round robin style tournament, with the top teams playing off in finals to crown the state champions.

Gippsland had a slow start, having the bye first up and then losing to Dandenong Valley by six goals.

Finding themselves, the open team went on to beat Chisholm by a single goal, which is where Gippsland’s wheels began turning.

Defeating Glenelg 17 to 9 and then the Western Region open team 16-12, they were on a run.

A surprise three-goal loss to Henderson gave the Gippy team a little mid-day slump, then going on to lose to Barwon 19-7.

The slump was not for long as the girls from regional Victoria know all about adversity, and came back to defeat Jika 12-9.

Playing quality sides like Two Bays, the Gippsland team weren’t far off the mark as they only needed three more goals to tie the game.

The Latrobe Valley team had a cracking start, leading Chisholm in the first half, but the team just fell short in the end and allowed Chisholm to draw the game back, finishing 12 goals-all.

Next, Latrobe Valley took on the Western Region open team, where they defeated them quite easily 19-10.

Barwon was in a class of their own as they cut through all of the Valley’s defences.

Barwon went on to double the Valley team’s score 9-18.

Two Bays were much like Barwon where they were just too good, defeating the Valley 21-14.

Next up for the team was another challenge in Central Highlands who were a well-oiled engine, the Valley team couldn’t stop the onslaught and went on to lose 21-11.

The Latrobe Valley team weren’t disheartened, having to verse three of the toughest teams in a row, they knew they were in for an easier run home.

Playing Dandenong, things were tight, however the Valley team couldn’t hold onto their systems and went on to lose by a mere five goals.

After a much-needed lunch break, Valley came out firing, stunning Glenelg’s open side 19-15.

Valley found a rhythm to go on and win three games in a row, beating Henderson by eight goals and Jika’s open side shortly after.

With the last game of the day a Gippsland showdown, the underdogs in the Latrobe Valley wanted to show their bite, and that they did for the first few minutes with scores neck-and-neck.

The Gippsland team, showing their class, overran the underdogs in the end, but it sure did make for an enjoying display of local talent.

Central Highlands took out the 2023 Open Championships narrowly defeating Barwon.

In other results, Gippsland’s All Abilities Division 1 team took out the competition finishing on top of the ladder, winning every game.

The final saw Gippsland dominate to beat Henderson 15-3.

Latrobe Valley’s 15&U side came 12th out of 19 in the state while Gippsland came 15th.

Gippsland’s 17&U side came 11th while the Valley’s side came 12th out of 19 teams.

With Netball Victoria growing male participation, Gipplsand was heavily represented, with two teams from the region in the six-team competition.

The 17&U male competition was exciting to watch as Latrobe Valley fell just short of a podium finish, finishing fourth while Gippsland came last.

There is always room for improvement as the junior male teams just begin their netball journey.