Queen Bee

You might think that setting up your own netball club is a bit too daunting, but take the lead of Rebecca Moore and you won’t go far wrong!

Rebecca says: “Up here in the North West there is a lot of focus on performance and elite netball and we are rightly proud of that. But I felt there was not enough being done for children, especially in underserved communities, who might just want to get on the court and play with their friends, not necessarily be the next Helen Housby!

“And luckily enough I bumped into the Greater Manchester NDCC (Netball Development Community Coach) Danielle Colebourne and things started falling into place. Danielle arranged funding for me to do a Bee Leader course – and later my Level 2 Coaching Netball qualification! – and I started Dolphins Netball Club in Oldham some 18 months ago, initially for my daughter and my friends’ kids. We started out with children from years three and four but have expanded pretty quickly. You get to a certain point and find that facilities become the real issue – we just do not have space for all those who want to join! We use school sports halls but have to go outside during exam time, then of course if it rains we might have to cancel…

“But facilities issues aside, it has been such an amazing journey. My husband is Vice Chair of a local rugby club so he was able to help out with some of the admin in setting up and running a club, but the main thing has been seeing the children develop, in netball and life skills. We had some who were painfully shy, including one girl who would only communicate with nods but is now playing in a league and loving it.

“The support from England Netball has been fantastic. If you can find a Netball Development Officer (NDO) or NDCC to support you, then I would recommend it so strongly. It changes your life and yes, it’s hard work, but it changes so many other lives too.”