We play netball for many reasons – to keep fit, to excel on the international stage, to keep in touch with friends, for the sheer enjoyment of exercising.
Netball NI want to ensure our members can fully enjoy every aspect of our great sport. Check out the useful resources and links below that might be useful if you are just joining a club or group as a junior, returning after a break, or you are a seasoned netballer.
Sport NI have been working with Inspire Wellbeing to develop the Sport Wellbeing Hub, an online resource hub around Mental Health and Wellbeing for sports, which provides a fantastic range of innovative tools and resources, to help us deal with challenges we may be experiencing. These include:
Childline support anyone up to the age of 19 on any issue big or small – they provide a free, private and confidential service where you can talk about anything.
Check out their website for support, advice, and tools to help you
For sport specific support, the Child Protection in Sport Unit provides guidance and help to parents and clubs.
Netball is a high intensity sport that can put a variety of stresses on our bodies. Incontinence (‘peeing yourself’) when playing may be common but is not normal, and is something that can be addressed .
So many of our members reengage with our sport after childbirth. Whilst there are currently no national/international guidelines that standardise practice and provide framework to support health professionals working with women who wish to return to netball after having a baby, our colleagues at Athletics NI have a range of information available on their website to provide useful information to women returning to physical activity. The information here is to raise awareness of this issue, and direct you as to where you can find more information.
Our colleagues at Athletics NI have further information on returning to activity, specifically running on their website :
https://athleticsni.org/Athletes/Athlete-Health-&-Support/Female-Athlete-Health/Return-To-Running
If you’re coming back to netball after a break, or just want some ideas to build up your netball fitness, follow the fitness programmes that Netball NI S&C Coach Mike Bentley has put together for club members here.
There are adaptions and progressions to ensure you can get the most out of your workout.
As always, listen to your body and don’t be afraid to take a break when you need to.
As parents of any budding netballer, you are by default a cheerleader, taxi driver, kit washer and take on many other tasks that you maybe didnt realise were involved with supporting your daughter’s participation.
Netball NI supports Parents in Sport Week, an annual campaign run by the NSPCC Child Protection in Sport Unit (CPSU). The campaign, which is now in its 5th year, aims to highlight the important role parents play in youth sport – from helping to keep children safe, to encouraging them to take part and stay active.
This year’s theme is ‘Let’s talk about keeping children safe in sport’ and the aim is to raise awareness amongst parents of the types of things clubs should have in place to keep children safe and how parents can get help with any concerns.
Find out more information and resources on the CPSU website.