A call for volunteers to help set up a netball club uncovered a huge demand. University lecturer and sports historian PETER DAVIES looks at the newly formed Shelley Ladies Netball Club
The power of advertising!
In the summer of 2007 a group of Huddersfield PE teachers put small ads in the windows of shops and post offices and spread the word round schools.
They had a simple idea; they wanted to establish a new club for netball enthusiasts in the Shelley-Kirkburton-Shepley-Skelmanthorpe area.
The results were spectacular; 50+ local women picked up the phone and made themselves known.
And Shelley Ladies Netball Club was officially born!
This name was chosen because the new organisation used the sports hall at Shelley College for training.
The team of PE teachers behind the project are Karen Taylor (Honley High), Lucy Sykes (Shelley College), Claire Turnbull (Scissett Middle) and Philippa Procter (Kirkburton Middle).
Mrs Procter, 37, has been delighted by the response.
“It’s been fantastic.
“We’ve flooded the local community with adverts and publicity and to hear from more than 50 people was wonderful.
“A lot of communication was done by word of mouth and there were lots of phone calls, too.
“It shows that there’s a real need, a real demand.”
In the main the club has tapped into two groups of local women.
First were girls who had just left school and were keen to continue their netball careers.
Second were young mums who were determined to get back into competitive sport after time out to have children.
Mrs Procter added: “On training nights we have enough players for four teams of seven, which is excellent.
“At the moment we’re just practising, getting back into the swing of things, but we would like to join a league.
“We certainly have the resources and enthusiasm.”
She is also keen to stress the local dimension to the new club.
“I live in Skelmanthorpe, while Karen comes from Cumberworth and Lucy resides in Scissett.
“There is a pyramid of first schools nearby, which includes Farnley Tyas, Thurstonland, Scissett, Denby Dale and Clayton West.
“This is ideal recruiting ground for us; a lot of teachers have signed up to our new club.”
Netball is a derivative of basketball.
It was invented in 1895 by Clara Gregory Baer, a pioneering figure in the history of women’s sport.
In fact, in its early days, it was known as ‘women's basketball’, especially in America.
One netball website puts it like this: “Women liked basketball, but they found that the long passes were difficult to execute in the game due to their limited strength.
“So the ladies decided to adapt the game to suit their circumstances.
“They divided the court into thirds . . . modified the goal ring to suit the smaller-sized soccer ball – and created netball.”
Over the years netball has become renowned as the premier team sport for women. And it has become popular in Commonwealth countries such as Australia, New Zealand, West Indies, Sri Lanka as well as in the United Kingdom.
Key dates in the sport’s development include:
1901 – First set of rules ratified.
1907 – Netball exhibition staged at Chiswick, London.
1960 – Establishment of the International Federation of Women's Basketball and Netball.
1963 – First Netball World Championship staged.
1995 – Recognised as an Olympic sport.
Today there is a UK Netball Super League, which features Leeds Carnegie, Brunel Hurricanes, Celtic Dragons, Loughborough Lightning, Mavericks, Northern Thunder, Team Bath and Team Northumbria.
And there is the Huddersfield Invitation League and West Yorkshire League.
Back at Shelley Mrs Procter explains the appeal of netball as a sport.
“I would say it’s very fast and exciting as a spectacle.
“It also stresses teamwork and competition and players have got to be both disciplined and skilful.
“A lot of the girls who’ve joined up were bored going to the gym all the time.
“They had fond memories of playing netball at school or before they had kids and they were keen to play again.
“Playing netball is great fun and that’s why we’ve set up the club.”
Mrs Procter is also optimistic about the future.
“We’ve got a wonderful pool of players and we’re just mulling over what our next step should be.
“Joining a league would be great, but we’ve just got to make sure it’s the right one; maybe Huddersfield, Wakefield, Sheffield or West Yorkshire.”
She and her colleagues also want to ensure that the new club is built on strong foundations.
“We’ve got a committee and a set of club officials.
“The facilities at Shelley College are good, so we’re fine for practice sessions and matches.
“We’re also making some grant applications for kit and we’re always on the lookout for local sponsors.”
Recently the women held their first annual dinner at Solos restaurant in Skelmanthorpe.
They packed out the first floor of the tandoori eatery – and it looks like there will be many more annual dinners to come for the infant club.
