netball

Turves Green Little League Netball

Little League Netball provides the opportunity for girls aged 8-11 to play competitive netball and receive coaching regardless of ability to pay or play. The league is in a central venue, so remains very local for those involved. Mothers of players run the leagues and take on the training, managing and coaching roles. Along side this Return to Netball sessions have taken place, as many of the women, through watching their children play, became enthused and reminded of how fun netball was. The league also runs a Young Leaders programme, with leavers returning to help out.

Project detailsProject duration: 01 February 2005 - ongoing

Organisation:

Birmingham City Council

Project name:

Turves Green League Netball

AudienceAll women

Age group:

0 - 15

Innovation

In terms of Little league Netball, the fact that all abilities are welcome and the professional nature of the league in terms of how it is run with kit and equipment provided etc. And for the Return to Netball sessions, the fact that participants were able to see their children participating and that it was ok and achieveable to be sporty has been really important.

Recruitment and promotion

Players are recruited to Little League Netball through schools, via letters to parents inviting the childeren to get involved. Posters are also put up in local libraries and leisure centres. Word of mouth has also meant new members getting involved. In terms of the Return to Netball element, the majority of players are parents of Little League members, although sesions have also been promoted through posters in local supermarkets and the Birmingham netball website.

Location

Local

How was your project delivered?Netball

Funding

Initially the project was funded with a start up grant from The Children's Network fund and Birmingham City Council. It is now self sustainable through teh league own fundraising eforts and sponsorship from the local community.

Partnership

The league is run by Mothers of players in the league and is supported by the local Sports Development Officer for Birmingham City Council. Schools also support the league by promoting it to parents and pupils.

Results

Lessons:

The project is monitored both by numbers of attendees and participant evaluation forms that ask questions about enjoyments, perceived fitness levels, self esteem etc.

Evaluation:

We would look more at supporting the transition from Little League to junior club as there are quite a lot of girls that drop out at 11. Inviting local clubs to come along in their club kit to meet the girls on match days and in the environment that they already feel comfortable in. In relation to Return to Netball, we need to review how we follow up with those women who come once or twice and then never again to better understancd and address why this is.

Themes

Growing and sustaining participation

Tackling drop off

Stopping girls from droping out of sport is central to the project, by getting them involved at an early age (8) there is more likelyhood of them staying in sport. There are then clear exit routes for the girls when they turn 11 into local clubs.

Taking part as a family

Mothers of players of players attend as supporters, committee members, managers, coaches and umpires. Now many of them play as well Their sessions follow on from the week day coaching sessions the girls attend. The girls turn to watch their mothers!

Workforce development

Volunteering

The mum's that volunteer fulfil a variety of function including team managing, fundraising, officiating, chairing league meetings and marketing and promoting the league.The fun environment that has been created for volunteers also makes recruiting them pretty easy.

Promotion, marketing and raising the profile

PR and media coverage

We are currently producing a DVD that hopefully shows all aspects of the project. This will be played at cinemas, leisure centres, at Head Teachers meetings etc.

Rebranding and reversioning sport

Whilst the actual playing rules for the children are the same, the way the league is run is quite different to other leagues as the emphasis is on fair play and enjoyment. All players must play at least half a match, no one gets left out. The selection process is based on sharing out of tall players, good players, beginners, small players, and ensuring the same number of ages in each team – the aim being to end of with teams of fairly equal ability. All children receive medals, not just the winners.

Confidence and self esteem issues

The Little League Netball rules ensure everyone plays at least half a game and throughout the season everyone plays the same number of half matches and full matches. Netball is a team sport and all the team are rewarded and congratulated. The end of season tournament is handicapped giving those lower down the league table a chance to win!

Celebrating Silver, Going for Gold

Celebrating Silver, Going for Gold marks WSFF's 25th birthday with a look back at a quarter century of records from women's sport.

From Tessa Sanderson winning Olympic gold in 1984, to the IOC's decision in 2009 to add women's boxing to the London 2012 programme, the report charts both administrative and athletic milestones. Its pages are brought to life through a striking spread of photography and montage of memories from leading figures in sport.

In the report you will find both stories of WSFF and the past 25 years of women’s sport – presented in a way which we hope fulfils two objectives; firstly, to explain who we are, where we came from and where we are heading and secondly, to give you goose bumps.

We want you to feel the same shiver which travelled down our spines when we relived moments like Tessa Sanderson standing proudly atop the medal podium at the 1984 Olympic Games, Dame Kelly Holmes’ wide eyed shock at winning the second of her two gold medals in Athens, and the moment when England midfielder Jill Scott rose above a crowd of defenders to send England into the final of a major championship for the first time in 25 years.

While looking back fills us with joy, it is looking forward which really excites us. We are now operating in a time when more doors are being opened for women in sport and the amount of people working towards that same goal is growing. So while we’re proud to be celebrating our 25th birthday this year, we are already planning for the years ahead which we hope will bring even more reasons to be proud and of course, more goose bumps.

WSFF_25_YEARS.pdf