Local and National Provision for Netball.

AS and A Level Physical Education (Sport & Coaching)

Acquisition of Skill

Local and National Provision for Netball

Introduction

The aim of this essay is to find out what provisions there are for netball in my local and the national areas, and whether or not there are any funding and coaching schemes for any level of netball from grassroots to elite level.

Grassroots level

Netball is available for all children to play at primary school level through to GCSE, girls and boys included. There are two main small-sided games aimed primarily at 7-11 year olds, for use in schools, clubs and holiday play schemes to provide fun, fitness and challenge for players of all abilities.

First step Netball has been designed mainly for children aged 7-9 year olds (Years 3 & 4). It is a version of 4-a-side netball that was launched in 1993, it has been adapted to suit the younger player giving them more freedom on the court and more time (5 seconds) to make a decision before throwing the ball but in a third of the court. A size 4 netball is used and an 8ft post.

High five netball is the next stage for children aged 9-11 (years 5 & 6). This is a modified game that provides the best foundation for young people to develop the physical, social and tactical skills; it also develops the knowledge and understanding of the game. There are 5 players on a full sized netball court, the others team members that are not on the court take up roles of timekeeper, score, umpire, and centre pass marker. A size 4 netball is used and they have 4 seconds to pass the ball and a 9ft netball post is used. This is the only game where England Netball provides resources and support for boys and girls playing in primary schools. A High fives Netball tournament will feature in this year's Partnership Youth Games for boys and girls in school years 5&6.

Provision for elite performers

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Provision for elite performers

For talented players there is a pathway to play for the national team but it takes a long time to get there. There are county squads from U14’s to the open selection. A player is only fully recognised when they are selected to represent the County at under 16 levels. There are talent camps for athletes who show potential but these are normally for athletes under the age of 16, to become a talent camp athlete, you need are nominated by your County coaches. Athletes who successfully demonstrate all of the basic physical, technical, tactical and mental skills required for peak performance, and who can apply these in a competitive situation, are considered candidates to progress into the national talent squads, they tend to stay here for 2-4 years and only 50% of those move to the development squad. After spending another 2-4 years in the development squad and only some of the athletes demonstrating a very high degree of personal responsibility for individual and team results manage to make it into the national squad where they can spend up to 10 years depending on their quality of play. Figure 1 (below) shows that rather than an age related development framework, the All England Netball Association operates a national squad structure, which you work up depending on the quality of your play.

There are a large number of leagues to play in around the country; for those who don't make County teams there are the Millennium youth games. This is part of Sport England's initiative to promote active sport. Regional tournaments are held every year. In Stafford there are two netball leagues: the Friday night league and the Stafford and district YLC netball league that takes part on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The Friday night league is a casual league where you register your team and then play, you don’t wear uniforms and anybody can play including lads so long as the other team is ok with lads, also the umpires don’t have to have any qualifications to umpire. However, the YLC netball league is official with only qualified umpires and uniforms must be worn, only those registered as team players can compete.

Provision for male competitors

The England netball and IFNA have stated that only single sex competitions are permitted, however England Netball stated that any netball activities up to GCSE level (aged 16) must allow girls and boys to participate together. It is unacceptable to exclude either boys or girls under12 from any competitive or non-competitive netball activity.

There are now some netball leagues that are either specifically for men or those which are for mixed teams. It is known that men's netball teams play regularly in the West Indies, Canada, New Zealand, England and Australia. Flava is committed to the development of men's netball and encourages boys to play netball as well as being represented in mixed netball competitions. Integral is another club that aims to provide an opportunity for men to play netball either as part of a mixed team or a men's team, the club took part in several mixed tournaments in the summer of 2002 with some success. They are based in Macclesfield in the North West of England but players come from all over the UK to be part of the club.

It was decided, by the Council, that a Men's World Netball Championship should be held under the direction of IFNA, within the next five years at a time and place to be decided by Members Council.

Provision for disabled competitors

England Netball is committed to providing and promoting equal opportunities in Netball and its first fully co-ordinated National Disability Development Plan was launched in 1996. The plan now looks at the issues of accessibility for disabled people, to the Netball court, and also opportunities and courses for coaches, umpires, other officials and administrators. It focuses on awareness training for coaches, umpires and volunteers, to ensure that people with disabilities may enjoy the highest quality experiences through the game of Netball.

A version of 7-a-side netball has been formed for those in wheelchairs (but with adaptations to 4 and 5-a-side), although obviously the rules have been modified covering travelling and playing the ball. This summer the National Netball Championships for People with Learning disabilities are holding a tournament run by England netball and the English Sports Association. There will be two age categories for those U17 and those over, the aim of this event is to encourage more people to play who struggle from disabilities.

Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be any local provisions for disabled netball they all seem to be on a national scheme.

Conclusion

I think that on a national level there are provisions being made for everyone to participate in netball, however, there is till not that much for the males or disabled participants. In the more local area there are leagues for females but this is still leaving out the disabled and the male netball players. The way that netball is at the moment means that the way to the top is only for talented female teenagers who can progress through the county level to talent squads and up to the top.