And the winner is... (From Warrington Guardian)

And the winner is...

5:18pm Thursday 8th February 2007 in Sport By Mike Parsons

IMAGINE8 became only the second netball team to win a Warrington Sports Personality award on Friday.

The highly talented side were crowned Warrington Sports Personality Team of 2006, sponsored by Exclusive Fitness, and the announcement of their success came as a pleasant surprise.

Team member Joy Randall said: "I honestly thought the chess team would win but we're delighted."

It was the icing on the cake to a great 2006 in which Imagine8 showed their strength on the national stage, lifting the inaugural England Netball Challenge Cup Plate in Bath.

Joy, of Great Sankey, said: "The Challenge Cup was the highlight. It was the first year that England Netball had run anything even remotely like the FA Cup, which was open to any club, so to win that was special.

"And they've completely restructured this year so with us being one of the top 10 teams in the northern region, from Birmingham to Scotland, we were invited to take part in the Northern League and we're doing very well in that also."

"I honestly thought the chess team would win but we’re delighted"

Imagine8's Joy Randall

Joy was keen to point out that the success is built on all-round club effort with team-building over a pint in the pub, balancing youth with experience, having a talented coach and great support from their umpires and scorers.

And she highlighted the strength of the club, saying: "Hopefully we'll win the Warrington Premier Division again this year, as we did last year.

"At the minute we have three teams and we're top of the premier, first and second divisions so we can't do better than that.

"It's an absolute club effort. We've got girls from 14 years old to 40 years old and everyone competes, which is brilliant.

"Hopefully the young ones will come through and take positions off the elite players."

Joy and her teammates hope that their team's recognition from Friday's awards will help to attract more girls and women to the sport, which is strong in Warrington.

She said: "There are four divisions in the winter and six in the summer - 420 women turning out on a Wednesday night for matches at Sankey Forum or Birchwood Leisure Centre.

"But all teams are always looking for new players and there's always a need for new venues. We train on Mondays at Penketh High School from 8pm to 10pm and we have entry-level players up to elite.

"We have girls returning to netball after a break and girls coming out of school or university that join us and it's a great mix. New players are welcome to turn up."

Prizes: Shield and medals donated by The Trophy Centre, tickets to a Warrington Wolves game, a day out paintballing with Delta Force, bottle of champagne courtesy of Corks Out Independent Wine.