NEW NETBALL UNIVERSE

Wales' Biggest Hitters
The team to beat! Sian Ruttley
in action for Dinas Netball Club
as they seek to add yet another
Cardiff District Premier Division
to their trophy cabinet!
their level.
But when you have the likes of
Eloisee Skinner at Goal Attack and
Emma Thomas at Goal Shooter - both
have gained Welsh recognition in recent
years - you don’t always need a
big player pool!
However, while they have the luxury
of fielding dominant players at the
business ends of the court, in Head
Coach Sian Ruttley, they have one of
Wales’s most successful club netball
coaches. Yes, she has a very supportive
committee behind the scenes, but her
presence is the decisive factor in the
Dinas netball winning machine.
Her leadership qualities are second
to none, and as a coach she possesses
the characteristics and the skill-set
to make a team superior than just the
sum of its parts. The challenge for Dinas
Netball Club, as they seek to build
a stronger development structure
underneath their Premier Division
teams, will definitely be to create
more coaches like Sian Ruttley!
Dinas
Every league in sport has its
giants, and few would argue that
Dinas Netball Club are THE team
to beat in South Wales! Given the
poor coverage netball gets in the
local media compared
to male
football and
rugby, this is
a fact that
will have
passed by
anyone who
doesn't keep up with club
netball in Wales.
No club has won more Cardiff District
Premier Division titles in the last decade
than Dinas, and their best 7, after
you discount the Wales & Celtic Dragons
squads, are arguably the best group
of players in Welsh club netball. This is
all the more remarkable when you
consider that their development
set-up
is still in its infancy,
meaning
that they have
had to rely
on a much
smaller player
pool compared to some of
the other established clubs at
Cowbridge
Narrowly missing out on the
2016/17 Cardiff District Premier Division
title to Dinas, automatically
qualifies Cowbridge as a force to be
reckoned with in Welsh club netball.
But the nature of their location and
the fact that the Swansea Netball
League also runs the most prestigious
summer senior league in South
Wales, means that Cowbridge are
able to play in the Cardiff Premier Division
in the autumn/winter, and in
the Swansea Premier Division in the
summer – where they just happen to
be the current champions!
It means the club, powered by the energy
of Head Coach Shaun Williams,
who possesses an impressive track record
when it comes to identifying top
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