26/09/2026
🏐☀️ THE VERY FIRST TOP END TOURNAMENT IS IN THE BOOKS! 🏆🌴
What an incredible few days of netball, friendships and competition in Darwin!
The inaugural Top End Tournament brought together some of the best young talent from Darwin, Alice Springs and Melbourne, with U17 teams from Pints Netball Club, Federal Netball Club and Diamond Creek Netball Club coming together across two action-packed days.
Five games. Two days. Plenty of heat. 🔥
And some seriously impressive netball!
While a handful of games were played outdoors in the gruelling Top End heat, the majority of the tournament was played in the luxury of the Territory Netball Centre, giving players the perfect environment to showcase their skills.
The tournament officially kicked off on Wednesday night with all teams coming together for a training session. It was the perfect opportunity to meet, connect and build friendships before the competition began on Thursday morning.
And what a competition it was!
With some amazingly talented players on show from across Australia, we witnessed tightly contested matches, electrifying intercepts, pinpoint passing, dominating defenders, slick ball movement and superstar shooting. ⭐️
☀️ DAY ONE — LET THE TOURNAMENT BEGIN! 🏐
After an exciting opening ceremony, it was straight onto the court for Day One of the inaugural Top End Tournament! Diamond Creek got the tournament underway with Pints Netball Club, with DC coming away with two early wins. Next up, Diamond Creek Blue faced a fired-up Federal Netball Club in a tightly contested battle from start to finish. DC capitalised on some terrific turnovers to secure a hard-fought two-goal victory, while Pints 2 took on a determined Diamond Creek White, who pulled away for a convincing win. Round 3 saw another tough test for Federals as they came up against Pints 1. Showcasing some of the best talent in the NT, the game certainly didn’t disappoint, with Federals securing an impressive six-goal win. The final round of the day saw the two Diamond Creek teams go head-to-head, with White taking the win, while Pints 1 faced the rising stars of Pints 2 and finished the day with a solid victory. What a way to kick off the tournament! 🔥🏐🌴
🏆 FINALS DAY
The finals commenced Friday, with one team from each region qualifying.
It was an incredibly tight competition — in fact, there was a three-way tie for second place, with only percentage separating Federal, Pints 17/U and Diamond Creek Blue!
Pints came away with a close victory over Federal in a fast-paced, highly skilled contest, with Federal playing their third game in a row.
Diamond Creek Blue then faced the Pints 15/U squad and came away with a solid win. The young Pints girls showed plenty of emerging talent, but DC Blue’s strength and experience ultimately saw them take control.
And then came the GRAND FINAL. 🏆
The undefeated Diamond Creek White came up against the powerhouse Pints in a game that absolutely lived up to expectations.
The opening half was a real arm wrestle, with goals traded at both ends for much of the first two quarters. Diamond Creek White managed to create some breathing room by half-time before turning up the intensity in the third, dominating the quarter 12–3.
Pints found their rhythm again in the final quarter, but the gap was too much to bridge.
🎉 DIAMOND CREEK WHITE — THE VERY FIRST TOP END TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONS! 🎉
For Diamond Creek, this experience is about so much more than the result.
It was about taking our players on an adventure they will never forget. It was about meeting players from different parts of the country, forming friendships, building connections and sharing our love of netball.
And we couldn’t be prouder. 💙
A HUGE thank you to the incredible sponsors and supporters who helped turn our vision for this tournament into reality:
👏 Rotary Boronia
👏 Kool Kidz
👏 Rotary Diamond Creek
👏 Comet Netballs
And to our amazing Diamond Creek Netball Club Committee support crew, who made the journey North to help run the event — we couldn’t have done it without you!
A very special thank you to Netball NT, particularly Gayle and Debra, for all of the work behind the scenes to make sure everything ran smoothly.
A huge thank you to the incredible umpires from Pints Netball Club, Federal Netball Club and Diamond Creek Netball Club for taking on the important job of officiating throughout the tournament. 👏🏐 Your professionalism, consistency and commitment helped keep the games flowing and allowed our players to showcase their netball. We really appreciate you being such an important part of making the very first Top End Tournament a success! 💙🌴
And of course, thank you to Pints Netball Club and Federal Netball Club for embracing the tournament and helping make the inaugural event so special.
Three clubs. Three regions. One incredible event. 💙🏐🌴
The Top End Tournament has officially begun… and we can’t wait to be back in 2028, bigger and better!
