After the success of the KLB School teams during the 2003 –2004 season it was decided to put their ability to the test by going abroad to train and play matched against other school teams.

The chosen venue was Platja D’Aro in Spain, north of Barcelona. The current U14 and U16 teams were eager to challenge themselves and decided that they would also like to raise funds for new kit to take with them on the trip. Over a period of 6 months they engaged in cake sales, car washing, a pig race night and an excellent promises auction. Parents helped to organise the big events, especially Mrs Tracy Marler, Mrs Kate Bryant and Mrs Sally Ponting.

It was decided that the colour of the kit would remain as purple and new skirts, shorts, briefs, bibs, playing shirts, tracksuits and holdalls would form the basis of the new equipment. The girls have been especially pleased with the tracksuits that have their name embroidered and netball emblazoned on the back.

At least the day arrived when they were to meet in Bristol to travel to Gatwick and then on to Barcelona. The atmosphere was electric when they all met up wearing their tracksuits; they certainly created a good impression amongst other travellers and they were easily picked out in a crowd.

The centre was well suited to hosting young people and there were other netball teams as well as dancers, footballers and rugby players staying at the hotel. The pool and the volleyball court were well used by KLB when they were not playing netball. Both teams were coached by qualified coaches, which enabled Miss Chilton to note down any new drills that they did and to observe the progress being made by the girls.

The evening entertainment included a karaoke session and a disco; needless to say the KLB girls gave their all at both events.

All of them trained hard and needed a dip in the pool to cool down. On the final day there were 2 tournaments, one for U14 and one for U16, although one school had entered an U18 team. Spectators were vociferous in their cheering for KLB and this encouraged the girls to even higher standards of play. Although the matches were limited to 5 minutes each way with no half time, the U16 team were scoring freely. The U14 team were also dominant in their matches and were comfortable winners. The U16 result depended on the final match between KLB and Loughborough High School U18 team; after an extremely close match KLB went down 3-4, but their standard of play was exceptional.

After such success both squads are looking forward to the rest of the season including county tournaments and regional finals.

• Images from the tour