Back to netball for women in Newark and Sherwood

Newark and Sherwood District Council’s club and coach development officer Fiona Houghton said the council had been lending practical support to the Back to Netball initiative launched by England Netball - and the campaign is paying dividends.

Playing groups have been started in Newark, Ollerton, Southwell and Collingham and new clubs are being formed as the players develop and improve.

Initial sessions are intended to be a fun introduction or re-introduction to the sport, providing non-competitive skills practice for female players aged 16 or over, with the emphasis on getting active, developing skills and having fun playing netball with friends.

“We support the sessions by providing equipment and coaching if required. We are also looking to put on a basic umpiring and leadership course to help improve participants’ confidence and knowledge of the sport,” said Fiona.

“There are also plans to set up a league and tournaments this year, and we help with venue hire and any other issues the groups may face.

“Once the groups start to hone their skills, they can move on to become a full-blown club, playing matches against other clubs and entering tournaments:

“The Collingham players are forming Collingham Netball Club and are very keen to keep that name, even though they’ve had to move to Holy Trinity School in Newark for winter nights because the court there is floodlit and there was nowhere suitable for them in the village.”

She added: “It’s a very encouraging development and Ollerton players are planning to the do the same, which is fantastic. They have already chosen a chairperson and a treasurer, and they have only been going since November.

“The Southwell group is augmented by one or two student players from Brackenhurst College and they are going to tournaments now as a fully-established team. They have also organised a coach to visit them once a month to give them new ideas.

“In Newark a second group started at the end of the summer and the first group “are pretty good now and should be thinking about competing in tournaments as an established team.”

To find out more about on Back to Netball session dates, venues and contact numbers, go to www.newark-sherwooddc.gov.uk/netball/

For more information contact Graham Keal on 01636 655499 or 07981 221019 or Chris Hutchings on 01636 655886.