BUDDING England star Serena Guthrie was the unofficial player of the tournament as the Jersey Academy J United teams took the National Youth Championship heats by storm in Gillingham on Sunday.

Playing in the London and South East heats – they were allowed entry because they couldn’t afford to go to their South West heats after being quoted £183 for each player to fly to Southampton – Guthrie and the under-16 side placed second out of 14 teams and the under-19s third out of nine.

Both teams go through to the national finals in Essex next month.

And it was 15-year-old goal-defence Guthrie who stole the show – although some of the other teams weren’t happy about Jersey being there at all.

‘Everyone was saying Serena was absolutely exceptional,’ said coach and Island netball development officer Linda Andrews.

‘She was the best player in the whole tournament – not just in my eyes but in the opinion of the officials and the umpires and everyone else.

‘But we upset quite a few people – they were a bit miffed that we went there and did so well.’ Andrews also had praise for the other players in her squads.

The under 16s only lost two games – both to the Manor team from Essex – first in the round-robin and then in the final and by just four goals in each case.

The under-19s also lost twice.

‘Both teams were excellent,’ said Andrews.

‘They should all be very proud of themselves.

They were up against some of the best young players in the country and proved that they’ve got the ability to go a long way.’