May is Walking Month and this week, we’re sharing the story of one Walking Netball group which has touched the lives of many of its members and celebrated a big birthday this year.
Fancy joining the Walking Netball community? Find out more about the programme here or find a session here.
Tell us about your Walking Netball group!
The Haltemprice Walking Netball group in the East Riding of Yorkshire was launched on 5 March 2015. This followed a meeting with Pauline Hardy, the England Netball Development Officer for the local area at the time, and Sarah Johnson from the Active Communities Team (formerly Sports Development) at East Riding of Yorkshire Council, to encourage women aged 50+ into activity. As there were no other groups through England Netball at this time, we amended the rules to suit the ability levels of the ladies and to increase safety at the sessions.
We removed blocking or face marking, as we found this to have a negative impact on those players who were less able. The weekly one-hour sessions over the first few months proved a huge success!
For many years our host Sandra Norrie has led us, but several members of our group are also trained ‘hosts’, and we also have two volunteer umpires. As there were 35 ladies registered at the Haltemprice session two years ago, an additional session was set up at the leisure centre on a different day of the week to attract more ladies to play this great adaptation of the game!
Every year an event has been held to celebrate the session’s birthday. This year for the milestone 10th birthday, a ‘Cuppa and Cake’ session was held which existing and retired players were invited to, as well as Pauline and Liv Park, the current Netball Development Officer. There was a display of photos from the past 10 years, together with a scrapbook. The following week another celebration event was held at a local venue with a buffet and refreshments.
Why should people consider joining your Walking Netball sessions? What can they expect to find at their first session?
The Walking Netball sessions at Haltemprice offer a very warm welcome to new ladies aged 50+ to come along and join in the fun, meet friends and engage back in a game they once loved at a level which suits them!
The Netball Host training was set up based on our session as at the time of development England Netball mentioned it was like we were ‘hosting a party’! New attendees who come along are given an introduction to the game with a refresh of the passes and rules. Once they are ready to go onto the court, they are paired with another group member who coaches them until they feel comfortable to ‘go it alone’. There is no pressure to play all the time. We encourage new members to do as much as they feel comfortable with and most importantly, enjoy themselves!
How important is the social aspect of your Walking Netball session?
The social aspect and support within the group is paramount to its success so far. We have a number of ladies within the group who have had injury, illness, or bereavement over the past 10 years and always encourage them to return when they feel comfortable. We also keep in touch with them via messages.
Social gatherings are organised throughout the year, in addition to the ladies having a cuppa together after each session. In addition to our birthday and Christmas celebrations, we also have various other social occasions throughout the year together, including supporting local charity events and having previously attended Netball Super League games at Hull University. Some of our ladies do other activities together such as badminton, pickleball and walking. In addition, there is also a Walking Netball darts team which has been playing together for eight years now!
NETBALLHer is EN’s female health initiative supporting women and girls through the life stages. How important is this angle to you and your Walking Netball group and why?
With our Walking Netball session being for ladies who are 50+, we have ladies who are dealing with a number of life-changing things which challenge them both physically and emotionally, such as the menopause (pre and post), dealing with illness involving themselves and family members plus bereavements of close family members and friends and more.
The Walking Netball group members and the support the session offers play a part in helping individuals during these testing times and we always encourage ladies to come along to the session even if they are not up to joining in, as it has been proved that this is a great support to them.
Looking back, how far has your Walking Netball group come in 10 years?
The session started in March 2015 with nine ladies, playing on a badminton court with the posts not at full height. We now have over 30 ladies on the register for our session, with 20 at the other session. There are over 10 Walking Netball sessions in the local area, and we regularly take part in leagues and tournaments.
We are constantly surprised at the number of women who want to play Walking Netball and are proud to have been at the beginning of this amazing journey. Just to hear one person say they absolutely love playing Walking Netball really makes our day!
