NU Sport Central

Overview

Northumbria University Sport has been widely involved with the delivery of community initiatives for many years, making both the development of students and engagement with the local community the primary focus.

Team Northumbria is the home of the North East Franchise of the national first tier Netball competition, the Netball Superleague (NSL). This season the franchise supported the development of young student and local community players through high level coaching, support services and by providing the opportunity to compete in this top flight competition with more senior and experienced players.

In addition, in early 2011 to coincide with the start of the new NSL season, Team Northumbria, under the leadership of Head Coach, launched the ‘Netball Community’ programme with the aim to be at the very heart of the North East Netball community.

The programme aims to utilise the skills and experience of the Head Coach and NSL players to support the development of Netball in the North East. The aim is not only to increase playing and development opportunities within Netball but to raise aspirations of young players and coaches by within the performance environment and at the home of North East Superleague, Northumbria University’s new £30 million state of the art facility ‘Sport Central’

The programme relies on partnership working and recognises the mutual benefits of working on initiatives in this way. The Netball Community programme aims to complement the development pathways and initiatives put in place by England Netball (NGB) through North East Netball. The development of the Team Northumbria Community programme was done through consultation with the Regional Excel Coach, Regional Manager and numerous North East club coaches and school contacts. Through this consultation, key areas were identified from which the content of Team Northumbria’s ‘Netball Community’ was devised to complement and strengthen the opportunities and development pathways within the North East.

In its first year the programme has consisted of 3 key elements:

Coaching Support
KID'S Camps
Starlight

Coaching Support

Directly impacting on the level of coaching delivery for schools and clubs, raising the visibility of the Superleague players locally and developing young student coaches/player coaches through a mentoring system of support; Team Northumbria coaches and players have linked into local clubs as coaches and into schools to deliver after school coaching, one off development days and support the delivery of local schools competitions.

For more information on coaching please email sportcommunity@northumbria.ac.uk

Netball Superleague Kids Camps

Our Netball Superleague Kids camps are delivered by Team Northumbria's Netball Superleague players and offer children first class Netball coaching along with player insights and tips from those at the very top of their game.

Netball Superleague camps are ideal for both School and Club representative players.

Open to: Children aged 8 - 16 years.

Camp 1 (Junior): Wednesday 6th June
Open to children aged 8-11 years, this camp is a fun introduction to Netball supporting new players by introducing them to High 5 and giving them the opportunity to learn the basics and support their transition and development into the full Netball game.

Camp 2 (Youth): Friday 8th June
A technical coaching day camp with specific skills, drills and tactics aimed at developing existing school and club team Netball players.

Cost: Each two day Camp is priced at £24.99* per child.

Children must wear suitable sports clothing and bring a packed lunch and refreshments.

Booking Information: You can book a place on the Multi Sport day online using our Online Booking System.

Booking Instructions:

1. Enter your Login ID (students and staff- this is your computer username). If you are not a student or staff member of Northumbria University you will need to sign up.
2. At the top right hand corner click on change (next to preferred booking site)and select Kid's Camps
3. Click on 'Make a Booking' and then select Sport Central Kid's Camps.
4. The two camps are listed
5. Select the camp you wish to book and then click book

Alternatively, visit Sport Central Reception or telephone 0191 227 4700.

Kids Camp FAQS

*Cost is subject to change.

Starlight

Starlight is an initiative with three specific aims;

To directly supplement England Netball’s national and regional player pathway structure
To engage with and form stronger relationships with the North East Netball clubs
To provide additional playing and development opportunities for players aged 12/13 with ‘potential’ or ‘talent’ as identified by their clubs.

Young players that become part of the ‘Starlight’ Programme attend 4 coaching sessions at Sport Central. Club coaches from across the region are also invited to attend the sessions to network and develop new coaching ideas and discuss coaching techniques with the NSL coaching staff. With this talented group the focus is on skill development and competition. The youngsters get their own taste of Superleague competition as they compete in a curtain raiser tournament at Sport Central before a Senior NSL game.

In its first year the ‘Netball Community’ programme has certainly tasted success. Both KIDS camps have run at 90% capacity, Starlight has attracted 30 young players from 12 different North East clubs and Team Northumbria coaches and players have engaged with over 20 different schools and clubs offering coaching support.

As the programme moves into its second year the aim is to continue to utilise the ‘brand’ of the Superleague to encourage participation and raise aspirations of young players. Through partnership working with the NGB the aim is to continue to develop North East talent at the top end through the Superleague structure and Team Northumbria coaching and support services and put the North East and Team Northumbria on the map in terms of Netball talent performance.

The programme aims to sustain the interest of young players in netball by exposing them to the NSL players and coaching team, to grow the number of opportunities for young players by increasing the number of KIDS camps and coaching provision and encourage young players to excel through access to high quality coaching and service support.

Through this joint working and striving to become at the very heart of Netball Development it is hoped that the NSL’s only North East franchise and offshoot ‘Netball Community’ programme can be an integral collaborator bringing together the expertise from the various elements of North East Netball from schools, clubs and NGB in one focus of Netball development encompassing; increasing opportunities, raising aspirations, development, and improving performance.

To find out more information on our 'Starlight' programme email sportcommunity@northumbria.ac.uk

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