Local News

Wiltshire H5 County Finals
27th June 2007

As the County Youth Games were not going to run as a mass event like last year the county held a number of different sporting events and we decided to concentrate the Netball event on Primary schools H5. Each of the 5 districts in Wiltshire held its own competition to determine the top schools that would qualify for the H5 Finals and the following 16 schools qualified to compete ~

• Minety
• St Sampsons
• St Marys
• St Edmunds
• Fitzmaurice
• Aloeric
• Wansdye
• Tregoze
• Bridlewood
• Grange
• Southbroom Yellow
• Southbroom Blue
• Castle
• Woodford Valley
• Nomansland/Landford
• Dinton

We held the finals on the new Netball Courts at the Dorcan Dome in Swindon and put them to the test with its first major junior event, and it really is a fantastic new facility. Schools from all over the county competed to become the H5 County Champions and I think it’s fair to say the supporters were soaking up the brilliant atmosphere just as much as the players! It was great to see so many enthusiastic girls and boys enjoying the competition and it just goes to show how much they enjoy this modified game of netball.

We somehow managed to escape the expected rain until the last few minutes of the last game. But it still managed to make its mark with a 5 minute torrential down pour leaving many bedraggled players, umpires and supporters taking shelter in the dome for the final rounds! However this didn’t manage to dampen the great atmosphere of the day and the final rounds in the Dome were met by all the supporters and 12 other teams around the side lines really getting into the spirit of things and cheering the finalists on! The first Semi Final was between St Marys and Tregoze with Tregoze winning 6-1. The other Semi Final was between Woodford Valley and Southbroom Blue which turned into a very tense match with a full time score of 6 all. We had to go into extra time with both players and teachers feeling the excitement build around the dome! Southbroom didn’t seem phased by any pressure though and managed to pull away with a winning score of 11 – 7! So the finals were between Tregoze and Southbroom Blue with 3rd and 4th position being played out between St Marys and Woodford Valley. They were both great matches to watch and with all the cheering in the dome it definitely wasn’t a quiet spectacle J The final top four positions were as follows ~

1st – Tregoze Primary School from Swindon
2nd – Southbroom Primary School from Kennet
3rd - Woodford Valley Primary School from Salisbury
4th – St Mary’s From North Wilts

We also had a netball that had been signed by players from the England Netball team which was awarded as the fair play Trophy. This award was for the team that showed the most respect towards their fellow team mates, their opposition, the umpires and their coach. The team’s behaviour and graciousness in winning and losing was also taken into account. After each match the umpires would rate the team according to the mentioned criteria and these scores where collated at the end of the day. It was extremely close but the final winners were Woodford Valley with 59 points out of a possible 70, so well done!

The day was a great success and I look forward to running more netball events here. However the day wouldn’t have run as smoothly as it did without the fantastic help from the umpires and table officials who volunteered from all over the county to help on the day, as well as everyone helping from WASP. The day was really enjoyable and a great success and this is credit to all their hard work so thank you to you all. I would also like to thank all the schools and teachers for their commitment to the sport which made it possible for these players to compete, and to all the players for representing their schools in such good spirit. Well done every one and I look forward to seeing you at many more netballing events!

West of Exeter Junior Netball Club, coached by some of the players from Exeter Chiefs Rugby Club.

Chair, Anita Palmer, said the session was a great success and a follow up session will be arranged in the near future. West of Exeter Junior Netball Club are currently in the process of applying for their Bronze CAPS (club accreditation).

Focus on Gloucestershire

June 2007

Our main season has just finished with our presentation evening honouring winners and runners-up of our 6 divisions and the various tournaments.  The leagues, sponsored by Cheltenham & Gloucester plc have taken on a new look this season, with teams from Hucclecote and Old Chelts who would have previously played in both the regional leagues and the Gloucestershire leagues, now only being allowed to play in the higher leagues.  This has meant a chance for other teams to rise upwards and gain success.  This season Rednock Raiders won all their matches and were rightly crowned league champions.  They also narrowly missed out on the double by losing to Hucclecote C in the final of the Batemen Shield handicap tournament 

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7. Credit: Graham White, Gloucestershire Netball Magazine

1. Hucclecote Under-12s - winners of U12 league
2. Old Chelts Under-14s - winners of U14 league
3. Rednock Ladies - winners of Div 1 Gloucestershire league - sponsored by Cheltenham and Gloucester plc, with Mike Cypher of C&G
4. BW and GP - Barbara Warburton (left) Umpiring sec, presents Gina Pearce with her umpire of the year award - voted for by Div 1 teams.
5. Louise Little - Lesley Thomas, Chair (right) presents Louise Little of Randwick with her Club Volunteer of the year award.
6. Caroline Bedford - Lesley Thomas, Chair (right) presents Caroline Bedford with the Young Volunteer of the Year Award.
7. Gilly Salter - Lesley Thomas, Chair (left) presents Volunteer of the Year award to Gilly Salter (right)
   

The focus this season has been very much on junior netball.  Without any county teams to aspire to we have followed England Netball's lead and are promoting junior competition. As a curtain-raiser to the season, we were delighted that a TeamBath squad visited Gloucestershire in early September for a weekend of junior skills sessions for local junior teams and schools players.  The weekend culminated in a promotional tournament event for Division 1 adult teams at GL1 Leisure Centre in Gloucester, with the winners taking on the TeamBath squad. 

As an interim measure we set up a United Clubs Academy before Christmas which comprised skills-based sessions for those junior players without affiliation to existing junior clubs.  This was followed by a junior league for U12, U14 and U16 teams which was run between January and March and sponsored by Bentham Country Club, with teams from Hucclecote and Old Chelts representing Gloucestershire in the U16 South West regional league.  The U14 contingent from Gloucestershire was made up by Old Chelts, Hucclecote and Randwick, who played in the Northern round of the Sub-regional tournament.
     
Next season we aim to extend the junior leagues to give competition throughout the main season.  Coupled with Extension Group High Performance squad training and the new Centre of Excellence we are seeing more juniors involved playing netball at a higher level.  This initiative has also involved young coaches who have gained valuable experience working under head coach Gilly Salter.

Although schools competitions do not normally come within the remit of the County Netball Association, Gloucestershire have traditionally hosted the May Dent tournament for U15 school teams.  This competition was named in honour of the former late county chairman and Mayor of Cheltenham and is run in March each year.  This year saw an exciting final which went to golden goal after extra time when Chosen Hill beat Katherine Lady Berkelely School.

Volunteers are the lifeblood of our game and these have been honoured this season.  Sue Wainwright, founder member and chairman of Hucclecote Netball club was presented with a Lifetime's Achievement Award at the recent Goalden Globes ceremony.  At the recent Gloucestershire Presentation evening, Gilly Salter was awarded the County Volunteer of the Year Award, Caroline Bedford the Young Volunteer of the Year Award, and Louise Little was selected as Club Volunteer of the Year Award for her work with Randwick Netball Club and their junior section.  Also, Gina Pearce was voted as best umpire by the teams playing in Division 1.

Outside the county, we are pleased to see that Hucclecote have maintained their Premier League Division 1 status.  They also have teams in the South West Regional and the Fiscal Sub-Regional league.  Old Chelts have been promoted to the South West Regional League and Gloucester Ladies have just gone through to the Fiscal Sub-Regional league.  This is all good news for netball in the county and encourages all teams to play for promotion.

The central venue initiative for Divisions 1 and 2 has continued to be successful, and we are considering extending it to Division 3.  As well as offering the facility for neutral umpires it allows for easier mentoring and assessing of umpires. We are grateful to Tony Markham at Bentham Country Club for his support throughout the season.

Not content with two mentions in this report, we also note that Gilly Salter has been heard as guest expert for Sky TV commentaries of the Super League competition featuring TeamBath.  Don't give up the day job, Gilly!

Bradley Stoke Netball Club are holding a mixed tournament on 30th June.

FOCUS ON DORSET

May 2007

Netball has received a huge boost nationally with the Sky Sports media focus on the Netball Super League.  The success of the Super League champions, TeamBath, at the top of the league table has inspired our local Dorset teams players to work hard towards the goal of playing for regional and national teams.   Geva Mentor, Active Dorset Community Coach, England and TeamBath athlete continues to promote Netball to the Dorset schools and clubs whilst maximising publicity interest.   Geva is a very popular role model to the young players and sets an example of how determination and dedication to training can lead to success.

The Active Dorset team of Geva, Nicki Hindmarch and Linda Cutler attended St Peter’s School in Southbourne to assist pupils taking part in the Higher Sports Leaders Award in running a Netball Fun Day for Year 3 and 4 boys and girls.   30 enthusiastic children attended and the Higher Sports Leader, Benjamin Shields reported on the day “being a huge success”. As a result from this some of the children have joined Bournemouth netball club.

Parkstone Grammar student, Emily Collom, has joined the ‘Step into Sport’ Community Volunteer programme and has been mentored and trained by the East Dorset Junior League.   Emily has now gained experience in the organisation of the junior league with timing, scoring and umpiring.   She also had the opportunity to talk about her experiences to the “Big Umbrella” media group who are putting a DVD together for the County Sports Partnerships across the South West.

Another member of Active Dorset, Tony Jones-Pert, ran the first session at the new East Dorset Talent Development Academy for U13s-U16s at the Netball Centre at Sir David English SC.   36 players were put through their paces by Tony to improve their speed and agility skills.   His introduction to warm-ups which included centipede walks, frog jumps and monkey swings immediately engaged the players in the fun way to extend their movement and flexibility range and motivated them to participate wholeheartedly in the entire 2 hour session.   Well done Tony – the Academy coaches are grateful for your input and hope to see you back again in the future.

FOCUS ON DEVON

April 2007

Since Christmas Netball in Devon has been thriving and we have a number of successes to report:

At the Goalden Globes Awards Evening on 24th March, Devon was represented by finalists in 4 categories.

Sharon Steward was short listed in the category of ‘Teacher of the Year’
Claire Grainger was short listed in the category ‘Young Volunteer of the Year’
Jan Howard was short listed for the Muriel McNally Award
Titans Netball Club was short listed for the Nextgen Award

Congratulations to all of these volunteers for not only winning the regional event but also for representing their county at the national awards evening.

The Plymouth & District League has just launched an excellent new web site. Visit www.pdnl.co.uk for a better insight of what’s happening in and around the Plymouth area.

Congratulations to East Devon Eagles for winning the U14 regional clubs tournament in Plymouth on 17th March. They will now represent the South West at the national round.

Titans Netball Club made it to the Semi Finals of the Challenge Cup in March. The article below, written by Gorgon Dudman, shows just how exciting the game was – Well done Titans for doing so well in this competition

‘In spite of the inclement weather forecast, it was dry with sunny spells as Titans set out from Barnstaple at 7:45am for their semi-final clash against North London based Poly. Good traffic flows on the M5 and the M4 saw them at the venue, Bridge Park Leisure Centre, within sight of the new Wembley Stadium, a full hour before.  With both teams warming up on adjacent halves of the court it was obvious to any casual observer that this was going to be a hard-fought and closely contested game and so it proved to be. With a turnover on their opponents centre-pass Titans went quickly into the league securing a 4 goal lead after the first 5 minutes. This seemed to galvanise Poly who started to claw it all back to finish the first quarter 12 -10. The second quarter started with Titans pilling on the attack with a sequence of high and fast balls into the GS’s hands and after 7 minutes had moved 4 goals clear of Poly. But all to no avail as Poly sought to break up the Titan attack and a series of crucial interceptions by the Poly defence saw them finish the second quarter 10 – 9  to give them a 22 – 19 lead. The cheering and shouting drew in many other leisure centre users to watch the proceedings – clearly no one is used to seeing this intensity of netball being played in North London! After some half-time changes Poly came out knowing that this quarter would be make or break. So it proved to be, with fresh legs on court they ran out 11- 7 winners to take their score to 33 -26. Now it was time for Titans to commit every last once of power, which they did with great style, taking the first 8 goals without a single Poly goal in reply to lead 34 – 33 after only 5 minutes. Digging deep, both teams had to work hard on breaking down each others attack and pressurising the shooters. As the minutes ticked away, Poly managed to regain form and to slip in enough goals to regain a slender 3 goal lead. A final quarter win by Titans of 12 – 8 was just not enough to prevent Poly running out 41 – 38 winners. After tea it was for Titans, a long haul back to Barnstaple just getting home before 11pm. Although Poly are delighted at the prospect of a place in next Sundays final they know that they were made to work exceptional hard against a talented opposition and are grateful to Titans for making the long journey up from North Devon’.

The successful team is pictured below.

Back row (l to r): Stacey Conibear, Michelle Lake, Lorraine Beel, Sharon Curtis and Louise Moir

FOCUS ON CORNWALL

MARCH 2007

RAISING THE PROFILE OF NETBALL

Cornwall Netball Development Officer is working with Cornwall Netball towards establishing a website which will be launched in March.  Together with the new website is an exciting new logo.  Please check out the site at: - www.cornwallnetball.co.uk

CLUBS

Cornwall has 25 affiliated senior clubs and 12 junior clubs.  There is one countywide league of 6 Divisions with 50 teams participating on a regular weekly basis.

Cornwall has 8 accredited CAPS clubs and 4 working towards. This means half of the clubs in Cornwall have either achieved or are working towards CAPS accreditation

1. St Austell NC Gold
2. Predators NC Silver
3. Penryn NC Silver
4. Penzance NC Silver
5. Bude NC Silver
6. Newquay NC Bronze
7. Connect NC Bronze
8. Lastonet NC Bronze

Registered for CAPS – Bodmin, Redruth, Hayle, Liskeard

WENA

Cornwall has 4 x U13 Area Satellite Academies and 2 x U14 Area Academies feeding into the West of England Netball Academy (WENA).  The Academies have a total of approximately 200 players receiving quality coaching and support.

Two ex WENA players achieved National Caps against South Africa – Jo Binns for England and Cara Lea Moseley for Wales

TRURO COLLEGE NETBALL ACADEMY 2006/7

The academy started with a weekend training camp in which prospective netball players received training and team building opportunities. The players were involved in setting their own Code of Conduct and shaping the Ethos of the Academy.

Players from the Academy were selected for Regional Screening for England U17 and U19 squads. 5 Players have also gained places in the SW Colleges Squad and will trial for the British Colleges Squad.

The 1st and 2nd team squads both play in a South West Colleges League. Both are currently undefeated this season in their relevant divisions. The 1st team squad also play in the South West College Cup Competition. They have won the SW Division of this Competition and are currently awaiting the draw for the quarterfinals. They also won the SW College Tournament and go to Loughborough in March to play in the finals against all the best colleges in Wales and England. They are Cornwall County Schools Champions at U19 level and have just won through to National Schools Finals coming 2nd in the Regional Round of that Competition.

Natasha Sandoe
Cornwall Netball Development Officer

BILL RICHARDS HERALD REPORTER

05 January 2007

Saltash youngster Frankie Harbottle so impressed a firm of sportswear manufacturers with her netball logo that they have decided to use her design. Frankie, aged five, was among a number of schoolgirls who were asked to come up with an original motif which Plymouth and District Netball club, Falcon Properties, could use on their new kit.

The St Stephen's School pupil's delightful drawing won the in-house competition, and her design was duly sent off to Bristol-based firm Primate Merchandise, to be added to the club's jackets.

To everyone's delight and surprise, the company was so impressed with the design they asked the Falcon team if they could use it on some of their new sportswear.

In return, Primate have agreed to pay a small commission to the team for each item of clothing sold. Falcon are going to give any commission to local charities.

As Falcon player and Plymouth and District Netball League press officer, Joanne Jones, explained, no-one, least of all young Frankie, believed the logo would make such an impact.

She said: "It all started when one of our team said she had seen a kids logo on a T-shirt and liked the idea, and wondered if we could get one to use on our kit.

"So, I asked my daughter, Lucie, if she and her friends could come up with a design.

"She did that and the girls all submitted two or three drawings each which were really nice, but we all agreed that Frankie's was the best.

"We thought that it captured the essence of netball, but with a child's innocence. It is really sweet.

"So we sent it off to the manufacturer to put on tops, shirts and jackets and to our great surprise, they liked it, too, and asked if they could use it themselves.

"Well, were all thrilled and we asked Frankie and her family and they agreed.

"They [Primate] said they would keep Frankie's copyright accreditation alongside her design and would pay a small commission to the club [Falcon] for each item of clothing sold, which we give to charity.

"It's absolutely brilliant, not just for the club, but that Frankie's design will be seen and appreciated by a lot of other people, too."