The fabulous sport of netball has once again hit the headlines after a netball-playing grandma from Paignton in Devon reached the regional finals of the Pride of Britain Awards—a competition organised by ITV to highlight the work of individuals who spend their lives encouraging others to get active and enjoy a healthy lifestyle.

Glenys Haywood was one of several inspirational people nominated for their tireless community work and she managed to beat off some stiff competition in order to secure her place as top finalist for the West Country following a vote by viewers of the West Country Tonight programme.

A lady from the Tornado Netball Club nominated Glenys, but she was apparently unaware of her nomination until a film crew turned up to capture her on camera at the end of September.

Glenys has been playing and coaching netball for more than 40 years and used to play for Somerset in her younger days. These days she coaches the ladies at the Tornado Netball Club in Paignton and does her best to encourage new ladies to take up the sport of netball. Although Glenys has two grown up sons as opposed to daughters, she does now have a 6-year-old granddaughter whom she hopes will grow up to love netball, too

As a result of her passion for the sport of netball, Glenys is determined to pass on her enthusiasm to the younger generation, and she was quick to point out to the cameras that netball is currently the number one female sport in the UK!

NetballFun wish Glenys every success in the finals of the Pride of Britain Awards and we really hope she wins!

At the recent Oldest Athlete Celebration Event, the sport of netball was once again thrown into the spotlight when a netballer was given a coveted Team Player Award. This special evening took place on 29th September and was designed to celebrate the achievements of people who actively participate or volunteer in sports and physical activities across Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland.

Sue Jones from the Loughborough Town Netball League was just one of many people there to celebrate sports and physical activities across the generations. Sue is 61 years old and has played competitive netball for more than thirty years. She has also taken part on marathons as well as playing regular games of squash and badminton. Such dedication just goes to prove that you are never too old to be playing sports such as competitive netball as it truly is a game for every generation.

There were 53 nominees at the evening celebration and between them they had collectively amassed an incredible 4,177 hours of sporting participation. As well as ordinary sporting enthusiasts, there were also a few ex Olympians present to answer questions put forward by local school children.

Amongst the many inspirational people present—one of the judges, aged 77, had completed a gruelling 103 running race the previous weekend—the star was undoubtedly Pat Ward from Loughborough who was crowned the oldest Athlete. She was more than happy to tell the assembled audience how she still enjoys swimming most days despite the fact she is an amazing 98 years old!

This successful event looks set to become an annual celebration of the oldest and most physically active members of the community and it is hoped that many of the people nominated will volunteer to become Physical Activity Ambassadors who can advocate the benefits of participating in sports and physical activity.

SUS Netball has posted an invite to all students currently at university who want the opportunity to represent Bonny Scotland in netball. Any netball playing full-time students who are currently playing top level netball for a university or club are invited to attend trials and subsequent training sessions in preparation for the BUCS Home Nations in April 2011.

Trials will be held at Strathclyde University in Glasgow on Sunday 7 November 1pm-4pm. These will include a training session as well as match play and various skills will be assessed.

All future training sessions will also be held at Strathclyde University over various dates in December, January, February, and March. There will also be a training match in Aberdeen on 6 February.

Any lucky student who is selected for the squad will be expected to pay for their own travel costs plus a personal contribution should they make the final 12 who head to the Home Nations event. However, some universities may cover part of the costs.

Further details of this exciting opportunity can be obtained from your University Sports/Athletic Union.

If you think you might have what it takes to represent Scotland at netball, go along to Strathclyde University and pitch your skills against the other hopefuls—and good luck!

For all those who have been missing some nail-biting netball action since Delhi, have no fear for some world class games are coming to the UK soon!

The World Netball Series will be taking place at the Echo Arena in Liverpool on 20-21st November. England, New Zealand, Australia, Jamaica, South Africa, and Malawi will all be competing in a series of exciting games played in the Fast Net format.

The series is designed to attract new players and fans to the sport of netball and if previous events are anything to go by, this year promises to be a brilliant opportunity to see just how thrilling netball can be when played by some of the top teams in the world. So if all your netball memories are based on wet mornings on the school netball court think again, netball is far more fun than that!

A few new innovative rules have been introduced for this year’s event and the series looks set to be fast and furious. The games will be played over four quarters lasting six minutes each: which is likely to lead to some intense action designed to test the fitness and tactical ability of each team to the max.

This year’s Australian squad will be interesting to watch as the girls who won silver at Delhi are now taking a well earned rest to give some of the upcoming talent a chance to show off their skills. The New Zealand side will be comprised of a mixture of old and new players, including Grace Rasmussen who helped her team win gold in Delhi.
The England team have yet to be announced, but playing on home soil should give our girls a little extra impetus as well as excellent crowd support.

If you want to go along and support your favourite team, tickets are available from the World Netball Series 2010 website, but if you can’t manage to get there, do not worry, we will keep you updated on the latest news!

Netball players on the Island of Jersey have finally managed to secure an indoor sport facility after signing an agreement with Les Ormes. It has apparently taken more than ten years of begging for netball players to get the chance to play their favourite game indoors.

The local netball association is apparently delighted at the good news. Not only will the game be safer and faster, it will also be a great relief to play netball away from the wind, rain, and chilly winter temperatures.

Unfortunately, not everybody is delighted at the agreement. The Lawn Tennis Association is rather upset that after losing four of their courts to footballers, they have been forced to share their remaining facilities with netball players. This means that they will no longer be able to host big international tournaments at the venue and they have described the decision as a “crying shame”.

But the netballers are happy, so we’re happy on their behalf!

Following their defeat by Australia, the England girls had something to prove when they stepped out once again to play against Jamaica. This time a bronze medal was at stake and it seemed that our girls had no intention of losing yet again. Right from the opening few shots of the match, England took control of the game and by the time the whistle blew at half time, the girls had a 33-23 lead.

This time, victory was assured and the bronze medal was emphatically won by the England team. Coach Maggie Jackson was delighted with the final result and she described the England squad as “outstanding” in their final game in Delhi.

This was also the last game for Co-captain, Sonia Mkoloma, as she will shortly be heading off down under to play for NSW Swifts.

Meanwhile, New Zealand stole the gold medal from Australia during extra time played in a closely fought game between two almost inseparable sides.

Well done girls!

Following a resounding win against Papua New Guinea on Sunday, hopes were high for the match against Australia. Unfortunately, as with their previous game against New Zealand, the England team seemed to lose steam in the second half of the game and soon lost precious ground.

The game started off well and both sides struck a frenetic pace that would have left any other mere mortals (us) dying on the floor. Goals were fast and furious and by the end of the first half, England had edged into a small 23-21 lead against a strong Australian side, despite errors creeping into their game.

Ten minutes before the end of the third quarter, the atmosphere was electric in the stadium as Australia drew even on 31-31. Australia began to show their dominance and drew ahead with a three goals lead and although England fought back with courage, by the time the whistle went, England was trailing 34-35.

The final quarter was tense and thrilling. The England girls were forced on to the defensive by a relentless Australian side. The girls desperately tried to claw a way back into the game and eventually managed to reduce the Australian lead to three goals with two and a half minutes left to play, but although they played with tremendous passion and courage, Australia blocked them at every turn.

The final result was 45-51 to Australia and although the girls must be bitterly disappointed, they still have a match against Jamaica and a bronze medal to play for.

We will be keeping our fingers crossed (and everything else!) here at Netball Fun…

The game on Thursday against New Zealand started with the kind of pace that would leave the rest of us collapsed in a heap on the ground. This energy and determination was to set the tone for the rest of the match as the two teams battled ferociously, each seeking an advantage over the other.

By the end of the first half, England were narrowly in the lead with a 2 goal lead and heading into the second half of the match, the girls continued to work hard and cause the New Zealand more than a few problems. Tension grew as the third quarter progressed and England began to give away shots to the New Zealand side.

At the start of the last quarter, New Zealand managed to claw their way into a 3 goal lead and a lack of shooting accuracy from England saw their rivals surge ahead with a 39-35 lead in the opening five minutes. It appeared nerves were beginning to take their toll and the mistakes became more costly as the match headed towards its conclusion.

In the end, despite a brilliant performance by the England girls during the first three quarters, the last quarter proved to be the decisive one and New Zealand stole the match with a final score of 47-41.

But all is not lost. A win against the Cook Islands will ensure England qualify as runners up in their group.

The England team have gotten off to a fantastic start at the Commonwealth Games in Delhi after a resounding 54-36 victory against South Africa.

England shot into the lead within the first five minutes thanks to the combined efforts of Louisa Brownfield and Pamela Cookey, and although the confident South African side started off competitively, they soon gave away ground to the England girls as the match progressed.

England lost some ground of their own in the second quarter as errors began to creep into their game, but by the second half, a few changes were made to the line-up of the England team and the baying crowd were beginning to sense an England victory might be on the cards.

The next match lined up for the England girls will see them play against the defending champions, New Zealand. In their first match, New Zealand managed to beat Papua New Guinea by a huge majority of 102-21, so although Thursday’s match looks likely to be a tough game for our team, we have every confidence in their abilities. We have our vuvuzela ready and we’ll be cheering for them!

The England Netball Team currently at the Commonwealth games in Delhi is likely to be causing a stir with their brand new team kit designed by Kukri. According to the team’s vice captain, Pamela Cookey, the girls were keen to find a kit that stood out from the other teams, as well as showing the rest of the world that the England Netball team are world class athletes.

The team worked with the designers at Kukri to produce a kit that really stands out in every way. Flat seams combined with Aircool fabric is designed to leave the feeling girls cool in the potentially sticky atmosphere of Delhi.

As well as red and white, gold is also featured on the dress and this should quash any doubts about the England netball team’s desire to win the gold medal at the Commonwealth Games this year.

How well the girl’s perform remains to be seen, but with their stylish new kit designed by Kukri they will definitely look like winners on the court!