NORTH EAST CELEBRATION AWARDS 2018 The North East Celebration Awards took place on 22nd June at the Copthorne Hotel in Newcastle. There was a great turnout to celebrate the success stories across the region for the year. Our winners were: Young Official - Emma Scott Official of the Year - Iain Richardson Volunteer of the Year - Maxine Fenwick Club Coach of the Year - Deborah Percy Community Coach of the Year - Alyson Christer Junior Club of the Year - Oaksway U16 Club of the Year - Grangetown Back to Netball Club - Stanley Storm School of the Year - Whitley Bay High Commitment to Netball - Carol Watson Lily McKurk Award – Vicky Riley Mary Bulloch Administrator Award – Louise Hurst Unsung Hero Award – Gail Smith The following women received their Long Service Awards for all their hard work: Ruth Farrell
Lynne Booth
Liz Vuyk
Jacqui Holford
Liz Thompson
Jan Adams
Pat Scott
Linda Tyman
Yvonne Hoyland
Gill Mason
Sue Hall
Lynn Janieson-Yip
Margaret Chambers
Liz Wisniewski
Karen Shirley
Lynn Morrison
Wendy Pinkney
Val Reynolds
Justine Rochester
Brenda Vail
In the regional leagues the following were our winners across the different age groups:
The region had three new people qualify as technical officials;
Seniors Division One – Riverside
Vicky Atkinson
Seniors Division Two – Durham Palatinates
Rachel Cassidy
U16 – Oaksway U14 – Oaksway
Sharon Scott.
A BACK TO NETBALL JOURNEY In September 2017, two friends Liz James and Janine Cusworth started their netball journey. They decided to get Back to Netball, a big step for both of them but an exciting prospect at the same time. Both of them had different motivations to stepping onto the court, Janine has a functional neurological disorder and was unable to walk until early 2017. Liz wanted to get fitter and have something that was just for her. After going along to their first session they were hooked and by the third they were asking what is next?! They were fortunate to have a keen and enthusiastic group, who were encouraged to meet and discuss options for them after training one night. Who would have thought this would result in them wanting to make a permanent sustainable club. Tribe Netball Club was born! They followed the steps of setting up a committee which saw Liz as chair, Janine as treasurer and other ladies in other supporting roles. Next up they needed a venue and a coach, followed by a Facebook page launch to attract new players. The hard work paid off and Tribe now has over 30 ladies on their books and continues to grow. They’ve entered festivals and the aim is to join the Thornaby Back to Netball League in October 2018.
The netball journey continues for the two friends as they are keen to get netball out to as many peoples as they can. Liz and Janine have just passed their walking netball host course and will be starting to deliver in the near future. Janine says “Netball has improved her balance and co-ordination, giving her more confidence in what her body can do. When I go to netball I feel normal again and get more benefit from the sessions. I have made new friends”. Liz and Nicola Crowther (another member of the tribe) have attended the first day of their UKCC level one. They want to gain more experience to be able to assist their coach. Liz will also help at the junior session her daughter attends.
The two mums are an inspiration to their young daughters. They saw that mum is going out to netball and wanted to play to. They took them along to Grangetown netball club, where they got playing matches in the Durham league in April. Netball is now part of the family. Liz says “I am fitter than ever. I have a purpose and love that I have made new friends. Netball has become a complete obsession for me. I am living and breathing netball!”
Follow their journey at: Tribe Netball Club
GRANGETOWN UP FOR PREM ONE What a year for the regions club of the year Grangetown Netball Club. They went from success to success from their young U14s up to their experienced senior players.
That wasn’t enough for the club as their senior side wanted to show their young guns they still had it too. They made club history being promoted to the Premier One league for the upcoming season.
In May, their U14’s team took to the court at Sport Central in Newcastle to play the best teams from around the country including local side Oaksway Netball Club. After a tough and physical weekend playing match after match their girls came out as 7th best U14 team in the country.
They gained promotion after a prosperous Premier League Two campaign in which they dominated finishing top of the table. Follow their journey at: Grangetown Netball Club
ROSES GIVE BACK England netball player Leah Kennedy was inspiring young athletes as she hosted a junior netball camp in the May school holidays. The Roses player started at Oaksway in Hartlepool and plays for Scottish Sirens in the Netball Superleague. She came to Thornaby Pavillion to coach the sold out workshop to over 30 teenagers.
WILDCATS BEACON OF LIGHT Wearside Wildcats have officially moved into the Beacon of Light. The new venue will now host the Wildcats’ training sessions.
The Beacon of Light will also host the North Durham league starting in September on a Wednesday evening.
The club ran an Open Fun night in June which was a great success to start their new adventure in the venue. Over 100 people attended the evening, with the club even picking up some new recruits.
As part of the new build England Netball was one of a number of funding partners supporting the development of the facility, having contributed £50,000 to the project sourced from Sport England funding from 2013-2017.
Wildcats’ can now run all of their sessions through one venue when previously they had to split over two.
In return for the investment, a Back to Netball and Walking Netball session will start in September.
For more info contact: gemma.sandberg@englandnetball.co.uk
STORM TAKE LUCIA MEMORIAL TROPHY On Sunday 24th June, Consett Steelers Netball club ran a Charity tournament to raise money for three charities including; Willow Burn Hospice, Bowl Cancer UK and Calvert Trust. The tournament organised by Steelers Karen Mitcheson, which is now set to be annual event saw teams playing for The Lucia Memorial trophy. Karen’s husband Lee is training for Iron Man UK to raise even more money for the charities.
Fourteen teams entered including mixed teams, Dad’s teams and our favourite named team The G&T’s! It was a fabulous day of netball in the Sun! The winners were Stanley Storm who were thrilled to be the first to pick up the Lucia Memorial Trophy and are keen to come back next year to defend their title! Karen and Consett Steelers would like to thank everyone for their involvement, the total raised so far stands at a massive £1334!!
TOBI SWINBANK MEMORIAL TOURNAMENT RAISES OVER £1,500 It was the 10th and final annual Tobi Swinbank Memorial Tournament on 23rd June at Blue Flames in Longbenton. The tournament is an annual memorial event for Tobi Swinbank who was sadly diagnosed with chronic renal failure at 16 days old and was transferred to Newcastle Royal Victoria Infirmary where they, against the odds, successfully managed to dialyse him.
BOWES BELLES WI WALKIE TALKIES Bowes Belles WI took part in the NFWI's Healthy Living & Wellbeing Week in June. England Netball and The NFWI partnered up earlier this year to provide Walking Netball sessions to WIs across the country.
As part of the partnership Rachel Barr has been allowing the Bowes Belles to get a wiggle on. As her final week with the ladies quickly approaches, they have now got their own Walking Netball coach ready to deliver!
Sadly, Tobi tragically died in 2010 at 14 months of age and the annual tournament raises money for the RVI’s renal team to help further develop and kitemark new technology to deliver effective dialysis for babies and small children. The tournament was a huge success with ten ladies teams and thirteen mixed teams entered this year, raising over £1,500.
ANNUAL TOURNAMENTS TAKES PLACE On 15th April 2018 teams arrived very blurry eyed at Cramlington Sporting. Many had been up since the early hours to witness the historic gold medal triumph by the England Roses at the Commonwealth Games. Northumberland held their inaugural adult tournament in aid of Cancer Research UK. Teams were organised into two sections with Concordia Netball Club winning the Cup Section and Diamonds winning the Plate section. A huge thank you goes out to all the umpires who helped make the day a huge success and in total £232 was raised for the charity. A big well done to all who took part and contributed to this total.
On 3rd June, the counties junior teams came together to take part in the Northumberland Junior tournament at U11, U12 and U14 age groups. Teams were represented from Astley, Beacon, Morpeth, Ponteland and Wansbeck. Well done to all the girls who took part on the day, and thank you to the coaches who helped to make the day a great success. Congratulation to the winners; U14 – Ponteland U12 – Wansbeck A U11 – Wansbeck A
Both tournaments will take place on the same weekends next year!! We would like to express our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Loraine Netherton, and members of Seaton Burn Netball Club who she dedicated so much of her time to. She was a devoted member of the North East Netball family and will be missed.
GET YOUR NETBALL TRAINERS ON! Is your club done for summer? Have you not played netball in a while? Do you not want to play to the intensity of normal netball? None of these should stop you from playing netball over summer!! Check out our session’s across the region: