Netball South West :: Workforce Development

Volunteering

Congratulations to the following NSW Volunteers who were the winners of the Regional Goalden Globes 2007:

Netball Teacher of the Year – Salli Anne Byrne

Salli

Young Volunteer of the Year – Andrea Semmonds

Nextgen Award – Verwood Town Netball Club

Rose Award – Denise Ellis

Community Volunteer of the Year – Sarah Rowe

Muriel McNally Award – Christina Martin

Volunteers are the lifeblood of sport and provide the foundations of our sporting nation. They dedicate hours of time and energy, working in a variety of ways and are worth their weight in gold. We at Netball South West understand the importance of these Great Volunteers to our Sport of Netball and believe their outstanding support and dedication should be rewarded, we wish to say Thank You to everyone who has helped make Netball available to one and all throughout the South West.

Goalden Globe Awards 2006

On Saturday 3rd February Netball South West held their first Regional Goalden Globe Awards at Combe Grove Manor Hotel and Country Club, Bath. The venue was very picturesque nestling in 69 acres with views overlooking the breathtaking Limpley Stoke Valley. Attendees from all over the region arrived from 12 noon onwards for the reception, all 10 counties had representation at the event. VIP guests, England and Team Bath Athletes Tamsin Greenway, Rachel Dunn, Pamela Cookey and Geva Mentor were also in attendance to present the awards.

The Awards ceremony was run by SW Regional Chair and England Netball Vice Chair Heather Crouch. Newly appointed England Netball, Volunteer Manager Rebecca Skinner, provided an introduction to what our Regional winners can expect from the National Goalden Globes scheduled for Saturday 24th March at Abbey Hotel and Country Club. Rebecca disclosed that the SW had received the largest number of nominations for potential winners in each of the 8 categories.

There were 5 awards (Muriel McNally Award, Netball Teacher of the Year Award, Nextgen Award, Young Volunteer of the Year Award and the Rose Award) to be presented and the first of these was the Muriel McNally Award and presenting this award was England and Team Bath athlete Tamsin Greenway.

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The Muriel McNally Award recognises a volunteer who has made a notable contribution to the development of Netball, at grassroots level, over a significant period of time. The South West Region Muriel McNally Award went to Jan Howard. Unfortunately Jan was the only award winner who was unable to attend and the award was accepted on Jan’s behalf by good friend and colleague Lin Oldham.

Jan has been an active volunteer for over 30 years and can be seen umpiring every Monday, Wednesday and Saturday for the established league and the newly formed Exeter and District Junior League to which she also acts as Vice Chairman. During the past 25 years Jan has held numerous positions on East Devon County Netball Association and since 1995 has held the position of Chair person. She is also a qualified Level 2 Coach using her skills and knowledge to assist the Seniors/U18/U16 coaches at East Devon County. As well as being involved with the administration, officiating and coaching of Netball, she is a qualified coach tutor and has delivered many Level 1 Coach courses. If this wasn’t enough Jan is currently involved in establishing 3 new Satellite Academies in their County based at North Devon, Torbay and the Exeter area. She truly is an inspiration to Netball.

The Netball Teacher of the Year Award was presented by Team Bath and England athlete Geva Mentor. This award recognises a teacher who has made an outstanding contribution to the development of Netball in school, outside their statutory teaching responsibilities, in the last 12 months. The South West Regional Netball Teacher of the Year Award went to Sharon Steward.

Sharon has been a PE teacher at Plymstock Community College for over 10 years and in this time has built up a very successful junior club linked to the school. Her successes include having a thriving junior club which accommodates over 100 children playing Netball ranging from High 5 to competitive play at U16. In 2006 Sharon’s U14 squad were finalists in the English Schools Tournament. In the same year her U14s were the overall winners of the National Sports Colleges Tournament. This success was noted and 1 student was spotted and recommended for Talent 1. Not only does Sharon work hard for providing Netball to able bodied, children but she also provides opportunities for disabled children. In 2005 Sharon took a team from Longcause Special School to the Marion Smith Disabled Netball Tournament where they competed for the overall winner’s title. The dedication, commitment and enthusiasm for Netball displayed by this teacher is reflected in her students.

The Nextgen Award is an award presented to an organisation that has made an outstanding contribution to developing and supporting their netball volunteers. Presenting this award was Grev Leigh of Primate8 who were the award sponsors. The winner of the South West Regional Nextgen Award for 2006 was Titans Netball Club. www.primate8.co.uk

Titans Netball Club has gone from strength to strength since taking on 20 juniors from Active Devon’s Stage 1 programme. They now have over 70 members and are committed to club and volunteer development. This Netball Club’s work branches out into the local community. As well as training their own teams, the club has trained the North Devon Netball Teams for the County’s Youth Games. Unsurprisingly, Lorraine Beel, one of the clubs’s founding members, won the “Mentor of the Year” award at Active Devon’s Sports Awards. The club has worked with Netball South West on the PESSCL (Physical Education and School Sport Club Links) Programme. As a result the junior section and number of volunteers has grown even further. They have had 2 of the club’s young volunteers accepted onto the Scholarship Scheme which is a huge achievement. As well as progressing their volunteers and commitment to this development, the club has been evolving its workforce through the attainment of Lorraine Beel gaining her A Umpires Award along with 2 additional Level 2 coaches and a B Award Umpire. This commitment to developing everyone at the club whether they are players, committee members or volunteers to achieve their full potential is truly admirable.

The Young Volunteer of the Year Award is an award which recognises a young volunteer’s achievement and outstanding contribution to netball within the last 12 months. Presenting this award was Team Bath and England GS Rachel Dunn. The Winner of the South West Regional Young Volunteer of the Year Award for 2006 was Claire Grainger.

Through her manner (quiet, fun and understanding) Claire has helped to build a rapport with the young athletes who she works with. Their confidence has grown immensely under her dedicated, watchful eye. In March 2000 Claire successfully achieved her Level 2 Coach qualification. Confidence gained from getting this award has been used to take Plymouth Civil Service Netball Club’s junior section to higher levels. Claire is very reliable and always willing to help out at short notice she is an outstanding individual with promise to go extremely far in Netball.

The Rose Award is an award which is presented to a volunteer who has made a notable contribution to the development of Netball at any level, regardless of time served. Presenting this award was TeamBath and England athlete Pamela Cookey. The Winner of the South West Regional Rose Award for 2006 was Liz Bloor.

Liz has made a huge contribution to the development of Netball locally, regionally and nationally. Locally she has set up an ever growing and successful junior club and built an excellent team of coaches around her. Bath Netball Club has developed as a very organised and effective junior club. Liz is a valuable member of Avon County Netball Association’s Committee, always there to provide help, support and sound advice. In 2006 she co-ordinated the successful bid for £220,000 to create a Netball Centre at the Grange Sports College in Bristol, working extremely hard in getting this project off the ground and acting as the main committee link with the school and other partners. With this new facility now in place she has set up a mini league for children from local primary schools. Liz’s biggest attribute is her enthusiasm. She has total dedication, great organisational skills and a constant willingness to help and support others in our sport.

Congratulations to all our winners! What an achievement!
The day was a huge success and enjoyed by everyone. Heather Crouch presented flowers to the Regional Administrator Rebecca Ward and thanked her for all her hard work determination and commitment to making the event such a success.

A raffle was drawn to conclude the awards ceremony. There were 5 fabulous prizes up for grabs which included:

Prize 1: Signed TeamBath Netball, TeamBath Mug, Yellow Teddy Bear, Beach Towel, Gym Towel, Mini branded TeamBath Netballs and a David Beckham fragrance Gift Set.

Prize 2: Ball bag containing 5 England Netballs, Netball UK Hoody, Asics Gym Towel, Celine Dion fragrance gift set and a Hand lotion gift set.

Prize 3: CD Player with Party anthems CD, Netball South West Teddy Bear, 2 x Mitre Netballs.

Prize 4: Signed England Netball by current squad who defeated South Africa 3 – 0 in the latest test series, L’Oreal Beauty Products, Nivea Beauty Products, Asic’s Gym towels and a Kukri Travel Bag.

Prize 5: Ball bag containing 5 England Netballs, Netball UK Hoody, Asics Gym Towel, Neal’s Yard Remedies Gift set and a box of Chocolates.

After the awards ceremony everyone travelled up the road to the University of Bath to watch and support TeamBath continue to battle for the retention of their Super league Champions title against Leeds Met Carnegie. Team Bath scored a league record number of goals against Leeds and finished the game with an 81 -19 victory. This record number of goals and overall victory by TeamBath with the huge success of the Goalden Globes proved to be a truly memorable and enjoyable day for everyone involved.

Netball South West would like to extend its thanks and gratitude to its following partners without whom this event would not have been possible: