🏐Marbella Torneo 2026: Bronze Medals, Long Shot Trophies, and El Clásico Glory! ☀️

What a weekend in Marbella! The tournament may be over, and the Marbella blues are hitting the squad pretty hard, but what a road trip it was. Barcelona Netball Club descended on the south coast, played some of the finest netball in our club’s history, and had an absolute ball doing it.

From water pistol standoffs by the pool to clinical court displays, here is the full story of our Marbella 2026 campaign.

The Build-Up: Convoys, Carb-Loading, and Bacon Sarnies

Our journey began with various convoys making their way down to our stunning apartment hotel in Buena Vista. Fizz was the first to arrive, immediately sorting the shopping to ensure the apartments were stocked with the absolute essentials: eggs, gin, and a bottle of Bitterol (though the less said about the Bitterol, the better...).

Once the whole squad was settled, Friday afternoon was spent enjoying the gorgeous sunshine with plenty of sunbathing, water fights, and laughs by the pool. To prepare for Saturday's tournament, we focused on some serious carb-loading, ordering a Chinese order so massive that the local restaurant owner joked he could close up early for the night.

On Saturday morning, the apartments were a hive of activity with players rushing in and out getting ready. A massive shout-out to Fizz for running a breakfast buffet of bacon sarnies and eggs that the Surfmar itself would be proud of!

Fully fueled, we headed to the courts. We love this torneo because it always kicks off with a massive group warm-up, and the vibes were high from the start. We kept that energy going with our own pre-match party powered by Lily’s playlist, plenty of TikToks, and dancing. But beneath all the fun, we had one clear goal: playing well, and putting in a great performance against a very strong Madrid side in El Clásico.

🏆 The Results & Standings

We absolutely dominated our group and proved exactly what Netball BCN is all about. All those tough training sessions and a year of playing "killer" at the end of practice paid off when the pressure was on.

• Group Stage Winners: Finished 1st in Group A with 26 points and a massive +34 goal difference!
• 3rd Place Finish: Proud bronze medalists overall 🥉
• Long Shot Champions: Blew the competition away by sinking 13 shots in 3 minutes to win the coveted Long Shot trophy! 🏆
• Defensive Glory: Our very own Jo Moppett won Best Defender of the Torneo! 👏

📋 Match-by-Match Breakdown

The Group Stage

• Barcelona 13 – 4 Marbella We opened our account against the hosts on their home turf. We started at an unbelievable pace, blowing them away 8–0 in the first quarter with some of our best netball of the weekend. We panicked slightly in the second half as they clawed a few goals back, but we quickly recomposed ourselves to take a comfortable opening win.
• Barcelona 9 – 4 Manilva Playing indoors on a different court surface made for a chaotic first half, and we actually found ourselves trailing for a brief moment. Once we settled, adjusted to the indoor court, and found our rhythm, we drove ahead in the second half to finish with a solid 9–4 win.
• Barcelona 6 – 8 Madrid (El Clásico I) Our first real test of the day and a highly competitive match. It was a tight, physical battle from start to finish. Despite incredible support from our sidelines, Madrid played exceptionally well, capitalising on a few late errors in our camp to secure a well-earned 8–6 win.
• Barcelona 7 – 6 Poker Face Posse A must-win game to keep our tournament goals alive, and it went right down to the wire. With the score locked at 7–6, we held possession in the middle, desperately looking at the desk and waiting for the final buzzer to sound. It was tense, but we held on!
• Barcelona 9 – 8 Dundee Divas (The Comeback!) Without a doubt, the most dramatic match of the entire tournament. We found ourselves down by 5 goals early on and looked completely out of the running. But the squad refused to give up, chipping away at the lead goal by goal. In the final three seconds of the match, Abbi sunk an unbelievable last-second goal to win it 9–8, securing top spot in Group A. Absolute scenes!
• Barcelona 20 – 0 BFG We finished the group stage with a clinical masterclass against British Forces Gibraltar. Our shooting was flawless, and Fizz put on an absolute defensive clinic at Goal Keeper to secure a rare, legendary netball clean sheet.

The Semi-Final

• Barcelona 4 – 6 Utrecht This was an incredibly tough and emotional game. Our coach and co-organiser Abbi went down with a painful knee injury mid-match, forcing a sudden on-court reshuffle. Nina stepped into the shooting circle as a super sub and played beautifully under immense pressure. We fought to the very last whistle, narrowly losing by just two goals while all of our thoughts were with Abbi.

The 3rd Place Play-Off: El Clásico Rematch

• Barcelona 10 – 2 Madrid After Madrid played so well to take the points in our group match, we knew we had to step up for the rematch with the bronze medals on the line. Facing our friendly rivals once again, we put in our best team performance of the weekend. Our defensive pressure and mid-court transitions clicked perfectly to secure a 10–2 win. It is always a brilliant, closely-contested game against them, which made the bronze medal win feel even more special.

⭐️ Thank You to the Squad!

This weekend was incredibly special because every single person showed up with the best possible attitude, both on and off the court. We saw brilliant leadership from our captain Libby, tournament-winning intercepts from our Best Defender Jo Moppett, and absolute defensive walls built by Hattie. Our shooting was top-tier, featuring Abbi sinking goals in her shades like a GS Robocop, Nina stepping straight into the circle under immense pressure, and Yasmin keeping the goals coming (and the club chat alive with her roving reports). Mid-court engines Ebs and Alice worked tirelessly to drive our play forward, while Emily showed total composure on court and Judith kept us moving off it by taking over the "Postman Pat van."

None of this would have run so smoothly without the organising genius of Abbi and Fizz, who also managed to serve up bacon sarnies, keep clean sheets on court, and support each other at the hospital. A massive thank you to everyone in our travel squad, and a special shout-out to our "Barcelona Ultras" (Lily, Lydia, and Amelia) for cheering us on from the sidelines. You are all superstars! 💜🧱🚐🔫

What Happens in Marbs...

The tournament may be over, but the memories of sunbathing, pool water fights, the massive Chinese dinner, impromptu pole dancing, and our brilliant night out at Linekers will stay with us for a long time.

The Madrid squad are looking forward to the decider at the ANE Torneo later this year, and so are we. It's bound to be another great battle!

Same time next year, ladies? 💜🥉🏆