NNI Schools Officer departure – Goodbye Lisa Bowman

January will see Netball NI say goodbye to a much loved and valued staff team member,  Lisa Bowman.

Lisa, who became the first Netball NI Schools Officer in her second role with the business having previously been employed through the Everybody Active Programme, has played a key role in supporting the growth and return of post primary school netball. Her leadership in this area has created solid partnerships across our schools network and she leaves this area of our business in a positive and exciting place.

Netball NI have an amazing staff team, who work hard and support one another so it’s always sad when anyone moves on. Lisa has been instrumental in our school’s restructure, providing new and improved opportunities for our school players alongside netball education support for our teachers. We will miss her in the staff team but know with her passion for netball, we will still see her on court and courtside and wish her all the best for the future.

Karen Rollo – Executive Manager

Northern Ireland U15 Academy Squads

The Northern Ireland U15 Academy is made up of 72 athletes across 4 different regions.

These squads are training towards a set of competition days in February that will end with one region being the Academy winner.

Congratulations to the selected athletes for this year’s Academies.

Safeguarding Board NI (SBNI) Publish ‘Spotlight on Bullying Report’

The Safeguarding Board NI (SBNI) have published a new  Spotlight on Cyberbullying Report by Stranmillis University College highlighting the nature and extent of online bullying behaviours among children and young people aged 8-18 in NI.  The report draws out key insights from the recent large-scale research project Growing Up Online: Children’s online activities, harm and safety in Northern Ireland which they hope will help inform online safety policy and practice.

The findings presented in this Spotlight report highlight the wide variety of online bullying behaviours which are experienced by local children and young people, ranging from mean or nasty comments being made or sent to them and being excluded from WhatsApp groups, through to online blackmail, threats and being told to harm or kill themselves.

 

Summary– Among the key findings from the 6500 survey responses and interviews with almost 100 children and young people are that:

  • A total of 13% of children aged 8-13 reported that someone had been mean to them online within the previous two months, with a higher incidence among girls than boys.
  • Girls aged 14-18 were more likely than boys to report that mean or nasty comments had been made about them or sent to them, more likely to have had lies or rumours told about them, and more likely to have been excluded from an online group.
  • Boys aged 14-18 were more likely than girls to report that someone had tried to blackmail them, that they had been threatened online, or that their account had been hacked.
  • LGBTQI+ young people aged 14-18 were more likely than heterosexual young people to report that they had received mean or nasty comments or that they had been threatened.
  • Less than a third (31%) of 14-18 year olds said that they had reported the cyberbullying compared to almost half (47%) of 8-13 year olds.  In both cases children and young people are more likely to tell their friends than family members or someone at school.
  • While incidents of online bullying were reported to have very significant emotional impact on the children and young people concerned, it was striking how some of the young people appeared to accept a certain level of online risk and danger, and appeared confident in dealing with such incidents.

Read the full report here 👉  Spotlight on Cyberbullying Report

Find out More 👉 Growing Up Online: Children’s online activities, harm and safety in Northern Ireland

Netball Northern Ireland Warriors Selection

A squad of 15 Warriors have been selected for December’s Test series vs ROI Emeralds.

Sheonah Forbes, NI Warriors Head Coach

“I cannot wait for my first test series with the squad, especially with it being on home soil. We have been really busy since I have come into the position of NI Warriors Head Coach and the squad has been progressing well. It will be great to get out there and see the squad on court against our neighbours.” 

Karen Rollo-Stewart, NNI Executive Manager

“I cannot wait to see our Warriors back on court in a home test series. The work behind the scenes from the entire squad, management and performance team has been phenomenal, with huge commitment and buy in from everyone to drive the Warriors forward both on court and off. It will be great to see them do what they love, and we are thrilled to be competing against our close neighbours, ROI Emeralds, who have been putting out some incredible performances over the last 12months.” 

Warriors Squad: 

Name  Club/Franchise   Court Area 
Niamh Cooper  Leeds Rhinos/Eagles NC  Mid Court 
Ciara Crosbie  Oldham NC  Circle Attack 
Frances Keenan  Belfast Ladies NC  Mid Court 
Emma Magee  Leeds Rhinos/The Downs NC  Circle Attack 
Michelle Magee  Leeds Rhinos/Grangetown NC  Circle Defence 
Evelyn McCagherty  Central Warriors/Weston Park Blades NC  Mid Court 
Georgie McGrath  Kingsway NC  Circle Attack 
Caroline O’Hanlon (C)   Leeds Rhinos/Larkfield NC  Mid Court 
Orlaith Rogers  Sirens Development/Northumbria University  Circle Attack 
Fionnuala Toner  Belfast Ladies NC  Circle Defence 
Lauren Walshe  Belfast Ladies NC  Circle Defence 
Maria McCann*  Belfast Ladies NC  Circle Defence 
Lisa Carlin**  Northeast Pheonix/Northumbria University  Circle Defence 
Reserve: Olivia McCloskey  Kingsway NC  Circle Attack 
Reserve: Orla McGeough  University of Liverpool  Mid Court 

*Maria McCann will be selected for the 12 in Test 1 and reserve for Test 2 

**Lisa Carlin will be selected for the 12 in Test 2 and reserve for Test 1 

Management

Head Coach: Sheonah Forbes 

Assistant Coach: Debbie Bleakley 

Team Manager: Beth Healy 

Donate now to our performance squads!

Netball NI is registered charity and thanks to the new enthuse platform, it has never been easier to support our performance squads.

Whether you want to support your sister, aunt, coach, or friend…you can do it now, by simply clicking the link below!

Donation Links
U17 https://netballni.enthuse.com/donatetoNNIU17s
U19 https://netballni.enthuse.com/donatetoNNIU19s
U21 https://netballni.enthuse.com/donatetoNNIU21s
Warriors https://netballni.enthuse.com/donatetoNNIWarriors
Netball NI https://netballni.enthuse.com/donatetoNNI

Join the NNI Events Working Group NOW!

Get ready for an exhilarating opportunity!

Join the dynamic team responsible for orchestrating spectacular Netball events in Northern Ireland. The call for passionate volunteers to be a part of this action-packed working group is officially open.

If you’re eager to get involved or have burning questions, reach out to Karen Rollo at executivemanager@netballni.org and be a part of the adventure!

EOI closes oct 3oth.

Netball Northern Ireland is an organisation and growing business which is ready to deliver the support that will enable the sport of Netball to flourish in Northern Ireland. It is committed to delivering services that support its members and will drive an agenda to help develop all aspects of the sport.

Our profile from finishing 8th at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and 10th at the 2019 Netball World Cup has inspired an abundance of women and girls to play our sport, at all levels. To successfully capitalise on this, we need to develop capacity within our clubs and workforce to allow a quality experience of netball in all environments.

We believe volunteers have a significant and meaningful contribution to make in how we achieve our vision of becoming a Top 8 National Team, supported by a strong school, club and league foundation. Delivering World Class events is an ambition of Northern Ireland as we look to provide our Participants, pathway and national athletes with the best and most professional experience possible.

With this in mind, Netball NI is NOW RECRUITING volunteers to be part of our NNI Events Working Group.

Netball NI ‘JobStart’ programme Recruitment

Netball Northern Ireland is a growing sports business which is ready to deliver a strategy that will enable the sport of Netball to flourish in Northern Ireland. We are committed to delivering services that support our members and will drive an agenda to help develop all aspects of the sport with the vision of becoming a top 8 ranked team in the World Netball rankings with a strong, cohesive school and club network.

We are recruiting several roles across Northern Ireland to support coaching in local schools, both primary and secondary, community and social groups. Planning, organising and delivering appropriate netball-based activities and programmes for schools and community groups.

The posts are funded directly by the Job Start programme.

JOBSTART IS OPEN TO 16-24 YEAR OLDS.

If you are on UC, contact your Work Coach via your Journal. If you are in receipt of JSA, IS or ESA phone a Work Coach on 0300 200 7807.

If you are 16-24 years old, unemployed, not in education or training and not in receipt of benefits, phone 028 90726788.

The successful candidates will be required to attend a range of daytime, evening and occasional weekend events across Northern Ireland.

Community Netball Officer JD and PS

Community Netball Officer with Social Media JD and PS

Netball NI Welcome new Board Directors

Welcome to our new Board Directors

The Summer months saw the Board undertake and complete a thorough recruitment process as they sought to strengthen the performance expertise on the Netball NI Board. We are delighted to announce, that following a successful process, the Board have appointed 2 new Directors, commencing their tenures in September 2023. Shirley McCay takes up the position of Performance Pathway Director and Roisin Murphy the role of High Performance Director.

Joining current Directors;

Helen Stirling (Chair)

Richard Bullick (co opt)

Jade Blair

Jasmine Bennett

Steven Mills

Lisa Venney

Both Directors are household names in the Northern Ireland sports arena, with extensive knowledge and experience in female, team sports across the pathways and into elite performance. Each having attended multiple European and World Championships as well as the Tokyo Olympics as either an athlete or leading the support services teams.

Shirley McCay

From 2007-2021 McCay, was part of the Senior Women’s hockey team, retiring with a record holding, 315 International caps. An inspirational athlete who has the lived experience of progressing in performance sport in NI with the understanding of the challenges and opportunities alike. This, along with her 10 years leading the Ulster Hockey talent programme for boys and girls, makes her the ideal person for Netball NI as we progress the recommendations for our performance pathway programme and infrastructure from the recent performance review.

Shirley McCay

‘‘I am delighted to join the board of Netball NI with a specific focus on performance supporting and leading on the pathway for young athletes. I hope I can add value to an already experienced Board, and am really looking forward to getting started.’

 

 Roisin Murphy

Currently Head Physio at the centralised and professional women’s XV Irish Rugby programme at the IRFU, Murphy comes with a wealth of experience having previously led support services for the Irish Women’s Hockey team as they qualified for and competed in the Tokyo Olympics. Prior to this she was part of the inaugural management team at Strathclyde Sirens while also working with the Scottish Thistles. Having implemented strategies across each sport to ensure the holistic health of multiple athletes and teams to support elite performances, Murphy will play an integral role in the High-Performance area of the business.

Roisin Murphy

‘I am delighted to be joining the board of directors at Netball NI as a high-performance specialist. I have always had a passion for driving success of women in sport, especially in Ireland. I have followed the success a small nation like NI has had in netball on the international stage for some time, and more recently been impressed and excited by the steps forward Netball NI has made around high performance and pathway strategy. I’ve worked in Women’s sport at an elite level for many years and hope I can bring my experiences of Olympic sports and other into this role. I am very excited to see what the future holds for NI netball and be a part of the ‘strongest together’ mantra.’

 

Helen Stirling, Chair Netball NI

‘We were delighted with the calibre of applications we received for our vacant Board positions especially at a time with so many Board opportunities open within the sporting landscape in NI. With a need for a clear focus and drive to implement and monitor the performance recommendations, the experience of both Roisin and Shirley in these areas is a huge addition to our Board team. Their professional knowledge of the performance sporting landscape both in NI and beyond will serve to ensure we not only deliver on the recommendations but that we continue to push forward in the performance environment.  I am thrilled to welcome both Shirley and Roisin to the Board and know they will enjoy being a part of the restructured NNI team.

We are sure our members join us in welcoming them and wish them well in their roles.