Want to become a Netball UKCC Coach Tutor or Assessor?

England Netball is inviting qualified Level 2 coaches to join their tutor and assessor workforce to deliver the UKCC Level 1 & 2 qualifications.
They are now in a position to offer courses that will support and provide you with a nationally recognised tutor and/or assessor transferable qualification.

Benefits

• On completion you will be offered half pay rates whilst co-tutoring or co-assessing and full rates when you are deemed competent and hold either the Certificate in Tutoring Sport or Introduction to Assessment Practice in Sport.

Services Provided	Daily Rate
Accredited tutor	£160
Co-tutor	£80
Accredited lead assessor (co-ordinating the assessment day)	£150
Accredited assessor	£140
Co-assessor	£70

• Travel and subsistence allowance
• Employment through England Netball
• Provision for Continual Personal Development
  

Full information, details and booking forms available by clicking on the link below:
http://www.englandnetball.co.uk/Get_Involved/TutorAssessor_Training/index.php

Training dates

Tutor Training - courses £300 per person

February 2nd, 3rd and 16th Venue is Corus hotel in Solihul
May 10th, 11th, and 31st West Midlands (venue TBC)
September 13th, 14th and 27th South East (Venue TBC)

Assessor Training £200 per person

April 26th and 27th North West (venue TBC)
July 26th and 27th East (venue TBC)
October 25th and 26th South West (Venue TBC)

If you are interested, but the cost of the course is prohibitive, please contact Karen Jones via karen.jones@umpireonline.net.  There may be financial support available to you to support your training.

Training for currently on our ACTIVE WORKFORCE list - course is free, travel will be paid at 17p per mile
June 21st Standardisation Training for Tutors and Assessors (Please do not book Level 1 courses on this date as ALL workforce need to attend)

November 29th Standardisation Training for Tutor and Assessors (Please do not book Level 1 courses on this date as ALL workforce need to attend)

Inspirational. That was the buzzword at the inaugural Active Dorset Awards ceremony held at Kingston Maurward, Dorchester.   The Active Dorset awards captured the hearts of many with over 90 nominations in 11 categories, and a quite staggering 1,604 votes in just under a week which is a testament to all the nominees.

Over 110 people attended the event ranging from sporting volunteers, international players, world champions and even Olympic medallists, all coming together to celebrate sport in Dorset.

In a highly contested award ‘Sports Person of the Year’ Geva Mentor and Megan Pascoe were joint winners for their achievements in Netball and Sailing respectively.

Geva had just returned from New Zealand where she had been representing England Netball in the World Championships whilst Megan has competed in the world Paralympic Sailing Championships and is current National Champion.

Photo: Joint winners of Sports Person of the Year, Meghan Pascoe and Geva Mentor with Simon Hiscocks

Reigning Co-operative Netball Superleague champions TeamBath were last night named Team of the Year at the prestigious BBC West Sports Awards.

The award, which acknowledges TeamBath's superb unbeaten run to retain their Superleague title last season, comes only weeks after the squad was shortlisted for the Champions Award at the Sunday Times Sportswomen of the Year presentations in London.

Tamsin Greenway, who collected the award with her teammates from Gloucestershire Cricket coach Mark Alleyne, said they were surprised to be on the shortlist for the award – and even more surprised to win the the title over the other sides on the shortlist: Bristol City football team, which won promotion to the Championship last season, and Somerset County Cricket Club, which won Division Two of the County Championship.

“We weren’t even expecting to be shortlisted, particularly given the calibre of some of the other teams in the region,” said Greenway. “It was a genuine shock to us all when it was announced that we’d won it. We all just sat there and looked at each other. It was really amazing.

“It shows how far netball has come, because a few years ago we wouldn’t even have been invited to an awards ceremony like that,” she added. “We’re all really pleased to have received the award.”

The picture, from BBC Bristol, shows (left to right) TeamBath assistant coach Jess Garland, and players Jo Binns, Tamsin Greenway and Pamela Cookey receiving their award from Mark Alleyne.

Netball South West (NSW) were very privileged to be asked by Sport England South West’s Regional Director Jim Clarke to be the representative regional governing body to meet with the new Minister for Sport, Gerry Sutcliffe, on his visit to the South West on Tuesday 20th November.    The purpose of the meeting was to provide the Minister with an insight into how Governing Bodies are embracing regional delivery through the example of Netball South West.

Following a tour of the Sports Training Village at the University of Bath by Chair of the Regional Sports Board (RSB) Ged Roddy, accompanied by RSB Vice Chair and Chair of NSW, Heather Crouch, the Minister was introduced to NSW’s Regional Manager Kathryn Crago, and Regional Directors Jean Davies, Linda Dyer and Karen Jones. 

The Minister spent around 25 minutes in the meeting with Jim Clarke, Ged Roddy and NSW.  NSW presented how it is delivering right through all sectors of the sporting continuum; schools, participation, community, talent and elite. The Minister was interested in how NSW is dealing with all the links between Youth Sport Trust, Sport England and UKSport provision. In addition to a discussion about the health benefits for women from netball, particularly psychological wellbeing, he asked about School-Club links, Club Development and Talent issues as well as facilities.  The Minister was interested whether netball was delivering like this in all regions and understood the impact of employed netball officers at a local level. 

In addition to the NSW booklet prepared for the Minister to takeaway, he appeared to be very impressed by the new High Five Netball Resource produced by the Region and asked to take a set, including High 5 DVD, back with him to Westminster. 

Slides of the presentation given to the Minister are available in pdf format on request from Kathryn Crago (kathrync@englandnetball.co.uk).

Australia regained a familiar piece of silverware when they defeated New Zealand 42-38 in a bruising New World Netball World Championship final in Auckland on Saturday 17th November to take the trophy for the ninth time.

In one of the most intensely fought games of netball ever, the 7,000-strong crowd was treated to a passionate contest between two teams who gave their hearts and souls to the game.

Time and again New Zealand fought back from adversity as Australia threatened to take control, and the result was always in doubt until the final whistle.

Magnificent and tenacious defence by captain Liz Ellis, Mo’onia Gerrard, Selina Gilsen and Natalie von Bertouch gave Australia a slight edge throughout, but the New Zealanders showed an abundance of fighting spirit, despite trailing at each quarter time (10-13, 20-27, 32-35). It was a defenders' game, with plenty of missed shots for both sides. Ellis vs Van Dyk was, as always, a scintillating contest, while at the other end of the court, Silver Fern Casey Williams was at her dynamic best to keep the Australian shooters at bay.

Amid deafening cheers, Australia held their nerve in a gripping final few minutes as New Zealand fell just short of raining on their party with a late flurry.

"When that final whistle went there was a feeling of everything,’’ Ellis said. "There was relief, happiness, excitement. We have just worked so hard and sacrificed an awful lot for this.’’

Ellis said she never felt the win was in the bag until the final whistle went.

"There was just so much pressure on every single attacking play that we had so there was no point where I thought we had it until the final whistle went,’’ she said. "The Silver Ferns were always going to be a super opponent, and they fought back and fought back - but the heart and fight in my team is unbelievable."

Casey Williams' floods of tears at the end of the game showed just how much the Kiwi side wanted back to back titles. But her captain Adine Wilson was proud of her team's efforts: "We asked you to leave your guts out on court and I think they're all over the court. To the crowd, I'm sorry that we could not bring it home for you."

As one of the New Zealand Sunday papers put it, the Ferns will stay silver for another four years, until the next competition, in Singapore in 2011.

England's netballers scored six goals inside the final three minutes of their Netball World Championships play off in Auckland this on Saturday 17th November, but it was not enough, and they lost the bronze medal play off to Jamaica by a heartbreaking 52 goals to 53.

However, the damage had been done earlier in the match, when England allowed Jamaican playmaker and GA Simone Forbes too much space and possession which she capitalised on to devastating effect. In addition to netting 23 of her side's goals, she frequently found herself unmarked as England double teamed towering GS Romelda Aiken, with WA Bryan often clear to support her.

England made a lacklustre start to the match, allowing Bryan and Forbes to dictate the play and drive the ball through uncontested to Aiken, who took full advantage. Cookey and Brownfield refused to be overawed, and calmly slotted the goals as England clawed their way back into the match, trailing 11-16 at the first interval.

Cookey was inspired in the second quarter, seeming to take every second pass as England looked for a way back into the game. The scoreboard went goal for goal until a time out for an ankle injury to Evering allowed Jamaica to regroup, and they scored four unanswered goals after the restart. Mentor and Mkoloma gave their all to counter the long bombs now being fired at Aiken but the English centre court was uncharacteristically subdued and found it difficult to drive the ball through to the shooters. Jamaica edged the quarter 11-10 but England were still in the hunt.

England coach Caldow introduced TeamBath's Tamsin Greenway at WA and moved Atkinson to C for the third quarter as the side looked for a way to drive through centre court. However, the Jamaican attack, expertly controlled by Forbes and Bryan, maintained their composure and the Sunshine goals powered on to take the quarter 16-11.

However, the English challenge was not completely extinguished. Cookey cut loose, making interceptions through court and netting her shooting opportunities with ease, as well as releasing Brownfield into space. Goal by goal, England clawed their way ever closer to Jamaica, taking full advantage of the interceptions made by Agbeze and Mentor. With less than three minutes to go, England trailed 46-53. An interception by the ubiquitous Cookey, followed by some positive attacking play, drove England back into contention - and the gap closed goal by goal. With less than a minute on the clock, Brownfield netted the goal that brought England to within one, but with England in possession in the goal third, the final agonising whistle went, leaving Jamaica with the bronze medal 53-52.

Speaking after the game, Marg Caldow, England's coach said: "Jamaica came out firing and we were a bit slow out of the blocks, but I'm very proud of how the girls responded and how they came out hard, particularly towards the end. Jamaica played a very smart game, keeping the ball short and making us work for possession, and we found it hard to come back at them."
Starting line ups:

England. GS Brownfield, GA Cookey, WA Atkinson, C Clarke, WD Newton, GD Mkoloma, GK Mentor
Changes/substitutions: 3rd Q WA Greenway

Jamaica: GS R Aiken, GA Forbes, WA Bryan, C Wiles, WD Henry, GD Evering, GK Byfield
Changes/substitutions: 2nd Q: C Gibson, 3rd Q: Wiles to C, 4th Q: Gibson to C

Shooting statistics:

England: Brownfield 30/36, Cookey 22/28
Aiken 30/38, Forbes 23/28

England's netballers gave their all in the semi-final of the New World Netball World Championships on Friday 16th November but came up against a fiery and determined Australia side who were simply too good for them, losing 51-33 after an epic match.

In a pulsating match, England were by no means disgraced despite the final 18 goal margin, pushing Australia all the way with some superb all court defensive work and clinical finishing, in particular from Mavericks' Louisa Brownfield.

However, Australia were simply too strong, pushing England into a number of key unforced errors at crucial points in the match, and evetually opened up a comfortable margin for the win.

At the end of the first quarter, England trailed by a single goal (10-11) with Sonia Mkoloma making life intensely difficult for star GA Sharelle McMahon, rattling the usually unflappable Australian into uncharacteristic errors.

Mkoloma and Mentor continued to harry and hassle the Australian shooters at the start of the second period, but the final safe pass eluded England on numerous occasions, allowing Australia some breathing space. Laura and Natalie von Bertouch drove to the circle edge time after time, while young defender Julie Prendergast was sensational at WD, smothering the opportunities which came Karen Atkinson's way. By the end of the period, Australia had opened up the gap, to lead 25-16 at half time.

The third quarter was an intensive, tough affair, with neither team prepared to give way. Australia scored two early goals, England countered, and so the passage of play continued. Brownfield was in unstoppable form, but the final ball in to her was found wanting on several more occasions. Gerrard made things difficult for England with her athleticism and anticipation, and despite the best efforts of the English defence, Cox and McMahon sank the shots which counted. Third quarter: 36-25 to Australia with 15 minutes to play.

Selina Gilsenan was introduced at WD for Australia for the final period, to test out her troublesome ankle, and seemed to be carrying no ill effects from her sprain two days ago. Meanwhile, Australia started to find Cox with more ease, in spite of the monumental efforts of Mkoloma, and the close attentions of Mentor. Brownfield continued to slot the opportunities which came her way, but sadly the flow of possession dried up. Australia scored four goals to close out the match 51-33 and create a more flattering scoreline, but England knew that the opportunity had been there for the taking.

Speaking after the match, England captain Amanda Newton said: "We're extremely disappointed, of course, particularly as we didn't stick to our game plan. Louisa Brownfield was a stand out tonight, but the whole team worked their socks off. We will now go back and do our homework for tomorrow's game - we have a job to do and will make sure we're fully prepared."

Starting line ups:

England: GS Brownfield, GA Cookey, WA Atkinson, C Clarke, WD Agbeze, GD Mkoloma, GK Mentor
Changes/substitutions: 3rd Q: GA Greenway, WD Newton

Australia: GS Cox, GA McMahon, WA L von Bertouch, C N Von Bertouch, WD Prendergast, GD Gerrard, GK Ellis
Changes/substitutions: 4th Q: WD Gilsenan

Shooting statistics:

Brownfield 24/30 - 80% Cookey 7/7 - 100%, Greenway 2/4 - 50%
Cox 30/42 71% McMahon 21/29

Umpires: Alison Cormack and Dalton Hinds

ngland's netballers stormed past a spirited Malawi side 81-37 in the New World Netball World Championships quarter final on 15th November. In the semi-final on Friday, England will now face old foes Australia, who dismissed the Cook Islands 90-22.

Pamela Cookey was once again England's shooting star, netting 40 of her side's goals, but she was not the only inspirational goal attack on show.

At 38 years old, Mary Waya is about to start her 25th year of international netball but showed England that she still has plenty of tricks up her sleeve. She jinked, rolled and bamboozled the English defence on a number of occasions with her pinpoint accuracy and superb vision into space under the post.

Coach Marg Caldow once again switched her line ups, opting for Ama Agbeze at WD in place of captain Amanda Newton, and reuniting Pamela Cookey and Louisa Brownfield in the shooting circle.

The early moments of the match were scrappy, with Malawi using their physicality to counter England’s pace, resulting in several injury time outs. Confusion surrounding substitutions following a blood injury to Clarke resulted in England playing with only six players for several minutes of the first quarter, before Greenway was substituted to WA. England settled quickly, and once the African side had adjusted to the speed of the game, the contact and stoppage counts dropped and the scoreboard started to turn in England’s favour, with Brownfield and Cookey’s understanding and accuracy paying dividends.

England used an effective zone defence during the second quarter, swarming across the midcourt and a run of nine unanswered goals midway through the quarter effectively put the result beyond Malawi. However, the Africans refused to be overawed, and with Waya and captain Peace Chawinga using some deft touches and cunning plays, Malawi stayed in the hunt, despite trailing 46-12 at half time.

Fitness and discipline started to tell in England’s favour in the second half, frequently leaving Malawi flatfooted or chasing their opponent. However Waya was still on song despite the close attentions of Mkoloma, injecting a creative touch whenever she was on the ball: one reverse pass through the legs of Mkoloma and Mentor to her GS had the crowd in raptures and could well be the play of the tournament! England led 66-25 at three quarter time, before wrapping up the result with some businesslike netball in the final period, to take the game 81-37.

Starting line ups:
England: GS Brownfield, GA Cookey, WA Atkinson, C Clarke, WD Agbeze, GD Mkoloma, GK Mentor
Changes/substitutions: 1st Q: WA Greenway, Atkinson to C 3rd Q: Atkinson to WA, Clarke to C, WD Newton 4th Q: Cookey to GS, Greenway to GA, WA Binns, Agbeze to GD

Malawi: GS Mogambo, GA Waya, WA Chawinga, C Malenga, WD Gedion, GD Nkoma, GK Kapatuka
Changes/substitutions: Chawinga to GA/ rep by Waya midway through quarter, WA Kaipa, WD Mtukule, 3rd Q: GS Mdzagada, Mtukule to GD

Shooting statistics:

England: Brownfield 33/40 - 83%, Cookey 40/49 - 82%, Greenway 8/9 - 89%
Malawi: Magombo 8/10, Mdzagada 10/10, Waya 19/28

Englands netballers  overcame a feisty South Africa side 62-32 at the New World Netball World Championships on Tuesday 13th November to set up a quarter final encounter with Malawi, who earlier defeated Wales 55-52.

In a scrappy first half, England led by ten, only to be pegged back by a determined South Africa side.  However, Geva Mentor and Ama Agbeze put world class defensive performances to deny South Africa possession, while Louisa Brownfield was England's shooting sensation, netting 23 goals from 24 attempts in the second half to put the game out of South Africa's reach.

Coach Marg Caldow was pleased, but believes there is still work to do: "It's delightful to have qualified - a real relief.  It was good to have the run off against South Africa tonight, because they're a top team and they certainly put us under the pump there for a while.  It was good preparation as we go up to the next level and definitely gave us a wake up call."

In other matches on Tuesday, Scotland, who will be in the 9th-16th place play offs, lost to Australia 93-20, while New Zealand defeated Botswana 76-20.

The Times online has been featuring Netball large recently. Click on the links below to read latest articles:

• http://women.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/women/article2836999.ece
• http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/more_sport/article2852065.ece
• http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/more_sport/article2811091.ece

England played Malaysia on Monday 12th November, for their second match in the 2007 World Championships hosted by New Zealand.

The England team started the match with high tempo.  It was one way traffic throughout the quarter towards the England net.  At the end the first quarter, the score stood at 20 – 1 to England.

England continued their run of high scoring play in the second quarter which finished 46 - 8.

During quarter 3, England’s Wing Attack, Jo Binns, took a finger in the eye, but bravely carried on.  The third quarter ended 71 – 13.

During the final quarter England were clearly heading for triple figures…  They almost got there, but the final time score was 99 – 16.

Don’t forget to tune into the big match – England v South Africa which will be televised at 5.30pm on Sky Sports 3, Thursday 15th November.

England opened their bid for a first World Netball championships gold medal on Sunday 11th November, with an impressive victory over Barbados.

Jo Harten, 18, won her first international cap in the game, but put in a superb performance which belied her inexperience at this level. Shooting 23 goals from 26 attempts in the first half of the game, Harten fitted smoothly into the England front line, combining well with experienced international Pamela Cookey to devastating effect. TeamBath’s Jo Binns was outstanding in centre court, working the ball tirelessly to the circle edge and making several key interceptions which helped England to move the scoreboard on to 38-22 at half time.

Caldow took the opportunity to give her full bench a run out during the second half, and the new combination settled quickly, using a lightning quick attacking pattern to drive the ball forwards. Binns and Bayman were unstoppable in defence, while Karen Atkinson’s pace at WA opened up space for Brownfield and Greenway. At three quarter time, the score stood 62-30 in England’s favour.

The final period was all about England. England used the long ball to devastating effect to split the Barbadian defence and Brownfield capitalised, with 15/16 for the period. Mkoloma and Mentor closed down the Barbadian shooters, restricting them to only four goals for the period, while the attack marched on to the tournament’s top score thus far.

Coach Marg Caldow was content with her team’s performance: “That was a great start to the tournament. There are still some little things to iron out during the week, but it was good to be able to give all of the squad court time and overall, I’m very pleased with how things went.”

Meanwhile, in other matches played on Sunday, Wales were too strong for a highly rated Botswana team 54-35, while Scotland led early on but ultimately paid the price for too many lost shots in the final period, losing to Trinidad and Tobago 47-39. Pre-tournament favourites Australia withstood a spirited challenge from Samoa, which saw the Pacific Islanders stay in the contention for almost half of the game, before the Australians’ fitness and accuracy started to pay dividends and allowed them to run out 82-26 winners. Meanwhile, the Cook Islands made Jamaica fight all the way to a 71-29 win, with the Islands side putting up a fierce challenge in all areas of the court.

England’s second pool match will be against Malaysia.

Match stats England vs Barbados:

Starting line up: GS Harten, GA Cookey, WA Binns, C Bayman, WD Clarke, GD Newton, GK Agbeze
Changes/substitutions: 2nd Q: Bayman to WD, Clarke to C, 3rd Q: GS Brownfield, GA Greenway, WA Atkinson, Binns to C, GD Mkoloma, GK Mentor

Shooting statistics:
GS HARTEN 23/26 88% BROWNFIELD 32/36 89%
GA COOKEY 15/17 88% GREENWAY16/22 72%
Overall Team: 87/102 85%

Saturday 26th January 2008

All day tournament at Fort Regent indoor courts.
Package put together by local hotel company.
Further netball fun tournament on Sunday 27th (am only)
For full details or application form contact Danny Simon

Tel: 01534 741197
Email: danilasimon@hotmail.com

England v South Africa - Thursday 15th November - 5pm - Sky Sports!

SHOW YOUR SUPPORT – ENGLAND VS SOUTH AFRICA - Let's get revenge for the Rugby!!

England’s netballers leave for New Zealand and the World Netball World Championships on 05 November, and a host of England fans are also expected to travel to Auckland to cheer them on.

However, if you are unable to make the trip to New Zealand, don’t worry! Sky Sports will be televising most of England’s games throughout the championships, as the side progresses through its qualification group, hopefully all the way to the final.

England’s closest group match is likely to be against current world number five side South Africa – to be televised by Sky Sports on 15 November 07 at 5.00pm. And to ensure that the England team has the best possible support, we are encouraging you, your friends, your family, and everyone you know to organise a Netball Night to watch the game! A downloadable pack, featuring ideas for South African food, cocktails, games and quizzes, as well as a flier to promote the event, is available now at the events pages at http://www.englandnetball.co.uk/Events/index.php and there are some special prizes on offer for those who get involved.

Organise your netball night on 15 November – at your local sports club, your local pub, your school or college, or at home, and take some photographs! Email them in to events@englandnetball.co.uk – those who are judged to have made the most effort, encouraged the most spectators and had the most fun are in with a chance of winning some very special prizes, including a brand new playing kit for their team from England’s official kit supplier, Kukri, made to measure in your club’s colours, and also signed netballs and signed photographs from the England squad.

The promotion will be held throughout each of the nine regions of England Netball, and further news about its progress will be uploaded on the website soon. So identify your venue and start to get your friends together for a night of South African madness! After the disappointment of the Rugby World Cup final, let’s make sure that this time England’s fans are not disappointed!

So email England Netball (events@englandnetball.co.uk) with news of your venue for your themed night and they will display it on their website also.'

NSW would like to say a huge congratulations to Judith Groves, one of our umpires based in Bristol who passed her International Umpire Award on the 29th October, and is now 1 of only 2 International umpires in England.

Netball South West has been successful in attracting £1500 from the DCMS through England Netball to support new coaches under 25. The funding is supporting new volunteers who are actively coaching in the community to attend the UKCC Level 1 course. Some money will also be used to run a netball specific multi-skills course in the region which they can also attend.

NSW are delighted to announce that Chris Bourne, a Chartered Accountant based in Gloucestershire, has become the latest Appointed Director to join the NSW Regional Management Board. Chris takes his position as NSW Finance Director, and will advise NSW on its strategic financial direction. Kathryn Crago, Regional Manager said "Chris will be a big asset to Netball South West and we are very pleased that he has agreed to work with us on the Regional Management Board. Chris' background as a volunteer Race Director for Stroud Athletics Club means that he brings with him not only huge financial expertise, but also an understanding of the sporting landscape. Chrissie Brooks, U16 Regional League Co-ordinator has been appointed as NSW Treasurer. Chrissie has worked for the last 7 years as the Netball Treasurer for the RAF and has just recently returned from supporting a RAF Netball Tour to Australia.

NSW Director, Sally Horrox, will continue to support the NSW financial team as Finance Manager.

We take great pleasure in announcing that Alison Oliver has become an Appointed Director on the Regional Management Board (RMB). Alison is Sport Director for the Youth Sports Trust.  Her background in this area will ensure Netball South West continues to forge greater links with its schools in the Region. 

Colin Johnson, County Sports Partnership Chief Executive for Somerset Activity and Sports Partnership (SASP) continues to demonstrate his support of NSW.  Colin has been appointed as NSW Executive Consultant to the RMB and will provide our all-important links with our 7 key partners in the region, the County Sports Partnerships.

England Netball is delighted to announce that The Co-operative, the world’s largest consumer co-operative, is to sponsor the Netball Superleague, the premier competition for the game in this country, which returns for its third season on 27 October 2007. The new season of The Co-operative Netball Superleague will be televised by Sky Sports from 1 November 2007, in an agreement which runs through until the competition’s Grand Final in April 2008. The Co-operative will also be a full partner of England Netball’s international test series.

“The Netball Superleague represents an ideal opportunity for us to interact with our core customers – women – and extends our involvement with elite sport, which has been so successful during the Rugby League season,” says Liz Matkin, Sponsorship Manager for The Co-operative. “This gives us a great opportunity to promote some of our Co-operative messages, such as healthy lifestyles, as well as developing regionally-focused activity and schools initiatives.

“Many netball clubs – not just those taking part in The Co-operative Superleague – are at the heart of their local communities and therefore provide a perfect fit with the services we offer.”

Karen Rothery, England Netball’s Commercial Director, believes there is much synergy between the two brands:

“In addition to the awareness and education-building activity which this partnership will generate for both England Netball and The Co-operative, we believe that it is a clear opportunity to communicate The Co-operative’s teamworking policy. Netball is the ultimate team sport, involving, as it does, all the members of the team on court, and this is an ethos which the Society is associated with, right across its business.”

“Last season’s Netball Superleague was a huge success at both an elite and a grassroots level,” continues Rothery, “with our international teams performing better than ever on a world stage, thanks to the intense levels of competition they experience in the Superleague, and participation levels rising 6% year on year among our club and school playing members. There is no doubt that part of this success has been driven by the increased visibility of the game on television, thanks to the agreement with Sky Sports, and we are delighted that The Co-operative has recognised the opportunity which the Netball Superleague provides for key consumer interactions.”

The Netball Superleague was established in 2005 as a vehicle to encourage improved playing and officiating standards across the country, which would enable England to compete more effectively in international competition. Since its inception, England teams have taken a silver medal at the World Youth Championships in 2005 and bronze at the Melbourne Commonwealth Games in 2006. Last season, more than 2.5 million viewers watched domestic and international netball on Sky Sports.

Former England U21 captain Sara Bayman has been called up to the England netball squad for the Netball World Championships, which take place from 10-17 November in Auckland. Bayman, who plays for TeamBath in the Netball Superleague was invited to join the World Championship Squad due to a space being made available by the deselection of Asha Tett.

“Asha, unfortunately, has been unable to take the court consistently in the final preparations to the World Championships,” said Pat Meadows, Chair of England Netball’s Selectors. “As part of the England Open squad, Sara has impressed both in training and in matches for England A, and England’s panel of selectors has taken this difficult decision at this point to ensure that we send the best possible England squad to contest the World Championships.”

Bayman, 23, was called up to the England Open squad in May 07, after impressing during TeamBath’s unbeaten run to the Netball Superleague title last season, and was a member of the England squad which defeated reigning World Champions New Zealand for the first time in 32 years earlier this year.

The Netball World Championships take place in Auckland from 10-17 November 07, and England’s matches will be shown on Sky Sports.

Netball South West and SkillsActive are working together to pilot an Advanced Apprenticeship in Sporting Excellence (AASE) Netball programme in two SW colleges, namely Hartpury and Truro starting this September. These two colleges were chosen because they have expressed an interest, we have the right level of coaching/teaching expertise to input but above all we already have our talented young netballers in each college and more are expected to attend this September.  Both colleges feature large in our NSW regional talent network.

The AASE framework was initially approved in 2004 with intake from football apprentices. In 2005 the scheme was piloted with three SW rugby union academies.  Last year other sports such as cricket, tennis and swimming were added.  AASE has been designed to meet the needs of young people who have ‘the realistic potential to achieve excellence in their sport and are seeking to perform at the highest level as their main career goal’.

Notionally taking two years to complete, the AASE programme provides, for the first time, a structured national training and development route for talented athletes between 16-18. NSW is particularly excited to be able to offer talented young women this opportunity to develop a wide range of competencies required for a possible career in sport. The programme allows our talented netballers to apply themselves to professional development in the technical, tactical, physical and psychological aspects of our great game. Importantly it will also directly address wider issues such as lifestyle, communication, career management and health and safety.

The pilot at Hartpury and Truro colleges will be carefully monitored and we hope to be able to negotiate with other colleges to run the AASE programme in more SW colleges next year. Indeed we hope England Netball will consider how this programme could be rolled out nationally and NSW will be pleased to help and support that process.

Participation in Netball is soaring across the South West.  Massive increases in participation have been seen across all areas of the Region.  The national target for increasing participation in sport is 1 % per annum.  Netball participation in this region is currently smashing the national target!  In only a 10-month period to June 2007, Netball participation across the age groups grew by 9.5 %.  Over 18 participation has risen by 5.9 %, with a huge 22.8 % increase seen in under 18s.  The biggest increases have been seen in Jersey (29.1 %) and Cornwall (14 %).

For further information about participation increases, please contact Kathryn Crago.
kathrync@englandnetball.co.uk

Molten, the world’s largest manufacturer of quality sports balls, is to sponsor Netball South West (NSW), it was announced today, Friday September 28, 2007.

The newly developed Molten International netball is to be the NSW’s official match ball for all its regional league and club tournaments for the 2007/8 season.  In addition, Molten is to provide netballs to NSW’s Talent and Performance centres in the region.

A further element of the sponsorship deal sees Molten named as NSW’s official High 5 ball provider for 2007/8 and Molten netballs are to be used by all High 5 tutors when delivering workshops to teachers in the region.

Kathryn Crago, Regional Manager, Netball South West said:
“We are delighted to be working with Molten and excited as this is the first time in our history we have appointed a ball sponsor for NSW.  Before making our decision, we initially trialled the Molten International netball with a group of our talent players and received some excellent feedback about the new ball from them.  We have 10,000 members in 400 clubs across 10 counties in the south west, including Jersey, and we are confident they will be very pleased to have the opportunity of playing with this great new ball.”

Commenting on the deal, Bob Hope, chairman of Molten Sports said:
“This is Molten’s first netball sponsorship in the UK and we are thrilled to be involved with NSW in this way.  We are certain they will benefit from playing with the new Molten International netball, which has just been launched following exhaustive development and testing by professional teams in Australia and New Zealand.”

http://www.moltensports.co.uk/

TeamBath’s Tamsin Greenway has been called up to join the England squad for the Netball World Championships, which will take place from 10-17 November in Auckland, New Zealand. Greenway, who has eight international caps, will replace her TeamBath colleague Rachel Dunn, who was forced to withdraw from the squad with a knee injury, which she suffered during England’s recent 3-0 series win over close rivals Jamaica.

“While Rachel’s injury, so close to such a major championships, is a devastating blow for her and the team, we are very pleased that Tamsin has stepped into her shoes,” says Nigel Holl, Director of Netball at England Netball. “With her international experience and current excellent form, she gives our attacking line another option going into November’s competition.”

24 year old Greenway, originally from Leicester, made her England debut in 2004 and was part of the England squad which recently defeated reigning World Champions New Zealand for the first time in 32 years at the Manchester Evening News Arena. She was a key member of the TeamBath squad which retained its Netball Superleague title earlier in the year.

Meanwhile, Rachel Dunn has had surgery on her injured knee and is now entering a period of recovery and rehabilitation. “We wish Rachel a swift and successful recovery and look forward to welcoming her back onto court as soon as her rehabilitation is completed,” says Holl. “She is a dedicated athlete and a valued member of our squad, and we look forward to her speedy return.”

Airborne Netball Club have had their world record attempt of 56 hrs of netball confirmed by the Guinness Book of World Records. They raised over £10,000 for Bristol Children's Hospital and Cancer Research.