NEW NETBALL UNIVERSE
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RCT Schools Netball Championship!<br />
by Jody Barnes, Operations Manager, Rhondda Netball<br />
got some feedback from her she<br />
said, “It has been great taking<br />
part in the schools league. Our<br />
pupils thoroughly enjoy taking<br />
part and I’ve personally witnessed<br />
a huge improvement in their performance<br />
and general attitude towards sport.<br />
I’m so happy to see that Rhondda<br />
Netball is so keen to work<br />
with schools throughout RCT<br />
as well as Rhondda.”<br />
With so many schools involved, the RCT Schools<br />
Netball Championship sees Rhondda, Cynon and Taff<br />
competing in their region where the schools are battling<br />
it out to be crowned “Regional Champions”. The competition<br />
will see an increase in intensity as each “Regional<br />
Champion” competes in the semi-finals, along with the<br />
winner of a play-off between 2nd place Rhondda and 2nd<br />
place Taff. The semi-final winners will progress to the<br />
RCT Schools Championship Final. The final game will be<br />
played at an organised finals day where schools, parents<br />
and friends will all be invited.<br />
Our new competitions structure has completely transformed<br />
girls attitudes to taking part in sport/netball in<br />
school. Commitment levels are unprecedented; skills are<br />
improving, and no longer are we seeing training die out<br />
in the same way from a lack of fixtures.<br />
As it takes such a long time to change a culture, we’re still<br />
seeing a big gap between some schools which correlates<br />
to the longevity of the out-of-schools netball provision<br />
in the school communities. But<br />
we’re hoping over time RCT will<br />
become a real hotbed when it<br />
comes to produces top class young<br />
netballers.<br />
Some schools are completely new to having a<br />
netball structure in place so we’re eager<br />
to support female PE staff as they<br />
seek to establish a female sporting<br />
culture in their respective schools.<br />
If Wales wants to produce more top class netballers,<br />
it will need to increase the intensity of all its major netball<br />
leagues and competitions. Schools can be the bedrock<br />
of such a strategy.<br />
We were eager to bring greater female equality to schools<br />
sport in Rhondda & RCT. From a structural point of view<br />
we’ve achieved that for the most part.<br />
The job now is cultural, and if we can<br />
ensure sustainability with the established<br />
models then we have good<br />
reason to be excited about schools<br />
netball in Rhondda Cynon Taf!<br />
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