A top netballer is joining the Calderdale Netball Festival.

Joanne Walker, one of England and Wales’ leading netballers, will join hundreds of schoolchildren this month at the annual St Joseph’s School Invitational Soccer and Netball Festival.

The event, on Saturday June 21, will feature girls aged between nine and 11 from 12 schools across Calderdale.

Joanne, 24, is goal shooter for the Yorkshire Jets, one of only eight teams in the Netball Superleague.

A passionate advocate for the sport, Joanne will be joining the event to speak to the netballers taking part and inspiring them to continue with the sport in the future.

Joanne said: “I am looking forward to being able to meet those taking part in the festival and encourage the girls from the schools across Calderdale to continue to play netball for a long time into the future.

“It was the passion shown for netball at my school that inspired me to dedicate so much time and effort to the sport and I hope we see some of those taking part in the competition playing for the Yorkshire Jets in a few years’ time.”

The festival, now in its 15th year, has 550 children entered in 55 teams across the two sports.

The event, held on Brighouse High School playing fields, is organised by the school's parent teacher social committee.

Heather Whittington, from the group, said: “It will be great to have Joanne with us for the festival and I know the girls attending from schools across Calderdale will be excited to meet one of the country’s best netballers.

“A lot of organisation and assistance goes into making the festival work so huge thanks have to go to St Joseph’s PTSC members, parents and staff for their hard work and local businesses for their support and sponsorship.”

The schools taking part are St Joseph’s Catholic Primary, Brighouse; St Mary’s Catholic Primary, Halifax; Woodhouse Primary, Brighouse; Carr Green Primary, Brighouse; Longroyde Primary, Brighouse; Shelf Junior and Infants; Greetland Academy; Holy Trinity Academy; Gleddings School; Northowram Primary; St John’s Academy, Clifton and All Saints, Halifax.

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