Exemplar Material – Candidate B

Introduction

To develop a more detailed knowledge and understanding of the provision of netball, I have decided to examine the steps that are taken from my local region of Swindon. In 1995, the game was registered as an official commonwealth sport, which resulted in the sports rise in status, funding and therefore participation amongst grass roots level. Consequently, England Netball achieved high standards, with the National team being amongst the world’s top ranked. There are currently 56.278 players affiliated to England Netball.

Grass Roots

Schools are instrumental when it comes to introducing children to new sports. In many primary schools, First Step netball, and Hi-5 netball are played to teach the children the basics of netball. All 12 secondary schools in Swindon have netball in their curriculum and the majority of primary schools. This is being developed through the School Sports Partnership (SSP) which is based at St.Lukes School. This partnership funds and facilitates coaches and sports leaders to go into primary schools to develop the game. Alex Leonard has recently been appointed netball development officer and this will again increase the range of opportunities. There are a range of school clubs which give them the opportunity to take part in school matches and local tournaments. Bradon Forest consistently win the area schools tournament mainly due to the number of players who also attend Lawn Netball Club and are part of the satellite Academy. Pathways have been developed with local clubs and there are a number of clubs which have junior sections (See Appendix 1) and these are run by volunteers who gain coaching qualifications. This can lead to a club obtaining the CAPS award which will allow more funding through the club to help with coaching and umpiring costs.

There are fees for all players wishing to be part of a netball club. All matches are played at Dorcan Leisure Centre where a purpose built netball dome opened in August 2007. The top clubs currently are Lawn and Pinehurst, both of which have players in the regional and sub-regional teams.

The New College in Swindon now offers an AS and an A2 at their Netball Academy, allowing a additional pathway for talented players to continue with their education whilst playing at a high standard.

National Governing Body

The National Governing Body for netball in England, is ‘England Netball’, http://www.englandnetball.co.uk. A governing body is the single establishment founded to enforce the sports rules, promote and develop the sport, organise all tournaments and get involved with participation in all areas.

Exemplar Material – Candidate B

Along with every National Governing Body, England Netball has aims and goals set in place, in order to acheive maximum success. Swindon is part of Wiltshire Netball but we are a unitary authority. The regional body ensures that directives from England Netball are enforced and developed in the region, including affiliation of all players and umpires. Swindon District Netball Association (SDNA) is run by a committee, elected at the AGM each year. (www.swindon-netball.co.uk/)

Structure of Competition

The introduction of the national Superleague competition has without doubt given netball a higher profile. Hucclecote (Gloucestershire) is the closest National League team and this is approxiamately 30 miles away. There is also Team Bath which is slightly further away but is the link premiership club to the Siwndon Satellite Academy. The current number of affiliated players in Swindon is

The main season runs from September to May and there are also a number of tournaments in the summer months. The junior leagues (U11, U12, U13, U14 and U16’s) matches are played on a Sunday and the Womens League is played on a Saturday with 4 divisions and a total of 54 teams from 18 clubs. There are also Over 35, Corporate, Regional (RL1/RL2) and Summer Legaues. Provision for all levels of ability is high and allows easily for progression through talent identification to premiership teams, leading to university scholarships (Bath and Gloucester) and selection to the England Camps.

Funding and Sponsorship

All players have to affiliate to england netball to be able to play. A contribution of this fee is redirected to both county and regional associations so that they can undertake their role. Affiliation is currently £31.50 for a senior and £18.50 for a junior. Players also pay club fees to cover the cost of facility hire and entry into competitions. Schools must also affiliate each team at a

Exemplar Material – Candidate B

A brand new dome with indoor courts is close to opening after four years of planning and work, and at a cost of £800,000. Its on the site of the Dorcan sports centre in Swindon and is the first of its kind in the entire country.

In the dome are two courts along with changing facilities and a clubhouse.

New all-weather courts have also been built outside and the existing courts have been improved as well.

The project was funded by Sport England, Swindon Borough Council and England Netball, the sport's governing body in the UK.

cost of £12.00. Clubs can access addtional funding via the lottery and Awards for all Bids to the value of £500 - £5000, depending on the project. The netball Super League is sponsored by the Co-operative bank but there is no other direct sponsorship to netball as it doesn’t receive much media coverage although NSL matches are now being broadcast on Sky Sports.

Male/Female Netball

Netball in the main is played by females although males are not precluded. There is a mixed netball league at Dorcan on a Thursday evening which does include some ‘male only’ teams. This is purely recreational and is not affiliated. Boys are able to play for their school teams up to the age of 11 and this is fairly common in primary schools. It is a requirement in the youth games and Hi-5 teams to have at least 2 boys in the team.

Swindon also boasts 3 male umpires and 4 coaches, one of which assists with talent identification.

Disabled Netball

The Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995 was introduced to prevent the discrimination disabled people suffer when playing sport. Sports Coach UK and England Netball offer courses to anyone wishing to teach disabled netballers. In Swindon, there are only a few opportunities for disabled netballers, yet the disabled development officer from the lifestyle unit is currently working with the special school sports college (St. Lukes) to develop more opportunities.

Critical analysis

Swindon netball is very well structured and there are opportunties at every level. However, considering the number of teams and clubs there is a lack of high quality coaches, with there being only two level 2 coaches in the borough. This must be considered to be an area for development to ensure the progression of young talented players. Equally the provision for the disabled is not adequate. It would be good to think that the sport could attract more funding but in the current economic climate it is unlikely that local businesses will invest in a sport unless there is a lucrative outcome!

Total word count: 1037

Bibliography.Websites used for research.www.englandnetball.co.ukhttp://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/other_sports/netball/default.stmwww.swindon-netball.co.uk/www. netballsouthwest .co.uk/ www.teambath.com/www.englandnetball.co.uk/National_Leagues/Superleague

Exemplar Material – Candidate B

Leisure and SportNetball Clubs in and around Swindon

Club Name Training Venue Contact Telephone Number

Croft Netball Club

Croft Sports Centre

Jill Aldridge 01793 522610

Highworth Juniors

Highworth Rec. Ruth Barnfield 01793 764386

Lawn Netball Club

Dorcan Recreation Centre

Eileen Witts / Denise Sell

01793 529787 / 920057

Moredon Netball Club

St Josephs CollegeMonday 7:00 - 9:00

Jenny Carter 01793 724044

Pinehurst Netball Club

Swindon Academy Steve Richmond 01793 630693

Raychem Netball Club

Crosslink Centre Chris Roberts 01793 824712

Ferndale Netball Club

Greendown SchoolMondays 7.30pm - 9.00pm

Joy Blake 01793 872237

Appendix 1

These are the netball teams that currently advertise of the Swindon Borough Council website. Those marked in blue have junior sections as do Fairford. Girls can play in the senior leagues from the age of 14 years old if they are deemed talented enough. All full list of clubs is available on www.swindon-netball.co.uk/

Appendix 2

Exemplar Material – Candidate B

Netball courses at New College Swindon, Swindon

Average rating for New College Swindon is

Show all courses | reviews at New College Swindon

Netball Academy AS LevelQueens Drive | SN3 1AH

Part time day | 1 year | 07-SEP-09

prospectus| website| email| phone number

Netball Academy GCE A2 LevelQueens Drive | SN3 1AH

Part time day | 2 years | 07-SEP-09

prospectus| website| email| phone number

Appendix 3

Exemplar Material – Candidate B

Swindon’s First Corporate Netball League Set For Shooting Success

20.11.2008

Playing netball is a serious business in Swindon so it’s no surprise that companies are clamouring to sign up for the Borough’s first-ever Corporate League for the sport.

Swindon Borough Council is supporting the initiative, which aims to attract new players and build relationships between companies across the Borough. Nearly a dozen companies and organisations have already signed up, including Zurich, Nationwide, Arval, Halcrow and Swindon Borough Council.

Samantha Parker, who works in sales promotion at Zurich, thinks the new league is a great idea. She said: “This is fantastic news. The league will be a brilliant way to meet new players and also mix with different companies.”

Samantha has been playing the position of goal shooter since she was 10. Now 38, the busy mother-of-one, is still as enthusiastic about the game, which she practises at least twice a week.

She said: “I just love it. There is a huge netball following in Swindon and it’s also very popular at Zurich. I’m certainly not the oldest member of our squad. There are 16 of us and it’s great fun, as well as a brilliant way to stay fit. We’re a friendly bunch, but we always play to win.”

The Zurich squad performed well in this year’s Challenge Swindon, Festival of Sport event and hope the corporate league will give them a chance to prepare for the next community sports extravaganza in June, 2009.

She said: “We really enjoyed the event and did pretty well but we’re always keen to improve and raise our game.”

The Swindon Corporate Netball league will meet at the Dorcan Dome, in St Paul’s Drive, Swindon, which boasts state-of-the-art indoor and outdoor netball courts, on Tuesdays from 6pm until 7pm. It is open to all companies and organisations in the Borough. For more information, send an email to aleonard@swindon.gov.uk or call: 01793 533763.

Cllr Justin Tomlinson, Cabinet Member for Leisure, Culture and Recreation said: “This is a fantastic networking opportunity – in more ways than one. The netball facilities at the Dorcan Dome are second to none and I am delighted that more and more players, both experienced and those new to the sport, are making the most of them. I’m sure Swindon’s new Corporate Netball League will be hugely popular and I wish all participants every success.”

Appendix 4

Exemplar Material – Candidate B

Netball South West Talented Player Pathway

This is the pathway which I have been following since the age of 12. I moved to the County Academy at 14 years old and I am now at the Talent Performance Centre which is based at Bath University. I hope to be playing first team netball for Team Bath during A2 and then move up to England U21’s!

Exemplar Material – Candidate B