Casting the net for future stars, Caroline Ritchie-Morgan

Casting the net for future stars Caroline Ritchie-Morgan is shooting for success on court

Netball is a sport that has never featured at the Olympics, but thanks to the success of the Women’s Super League and a triumph for England at this year’s Commonwealth games, netball is on the rise. The England team has just moved up to second in the world rankings for the first time, sparking a huge surge in its popularity. The number of players looking for a new club has already risen by two thousand per cent since the Roses won gold. As gold fever sparks a soaring number of youngsters signing up for netball, a leading independent school is spearheading the hunt to find the next generation of national players.

Wrekin College has been named as one of the new academy schools for the netball Super League which has helped to spark a resurgence in the game. The school has invested heavily in its

netball department, with an award-winning coach on the staff given full backing to search the UK for talented players, with boarding scholarships on offer.

Caroline Ritchie-Morgan, a former Welsh Under 19 coach and former assistant coach to the senior Welsh squad, now head of girls’ games at Wrekin, is stepping up her efforts to find and coach the best players. ‘Netball has been a great game for me in terms of developing who I am and how much I have gained in life, including lifelong friends, and I can certainly see why it would be popular. It’s a great game to play.’ The numbers speak for themselves: there was a 44% increase in participation at grass roots level in the last year, with nearly 30,000 players pounding the courts across England.

‘Netball at Wrekin has been strong for some time,’ said Caroline, ‘but now we really want to capitalise on this surge in popularity by making sure that we are reaching all those players who have potential, so that we can help them access the best in coaching and support and take their sport to the higher level.’

Wrekin College has enjoyed significant success on the netball court for some time and has won numerous titles, with school teams regularly qualifying for the Regional and National Netball Finals. In 2018, the College was one of only four schools in the country to have two teams qualifying for the national finals.

One city where netball is thriving is Birmingham, which is also the closest major city to Wrekin College. Having two Super League sides within thirty miles, current league champions Wasps, based in Coventry, and Severn Stars, based in Worcester, has helped dramatically with raising the profile of netball in the city.

Now Caroline is on a mission to continue to promote the game and help youngsters with potential to access top level coaching. Caroline, who was named Netball Teacher of the Year by England Netball, is convinced that a new partnership with Severn Stars Nova Academy is really exciting news for the school.

‘We have worked hard to produce top results at Wrekin College over the years and have had some wonderfully tightknit groups who have come together in our netball teams. This is paying off in terms of recognition of what we are doing here and how we can contribute when it comes to encouraging top players as they are starting out on their careers. Now we want to expand that significantly and search out players competing for school teams, community teams and even county teams, who want to make the most of a comprehensive programme of coaching and training that can be combined with their academic studies. In a boarding setting, coaches are more readily available and can also take our netball players to more advanced training sessions with successful national teams.’

As one of the Severn Stars Super League franchise schools, the provision of regular high-level performance training can be extended to the next generation of potential netball stars at Wrekin College. The next step for players as they move on from County Academies on the England Netball Performance Pathway, is to the Nova Academies. Wrekin College has already discovered and offered scholarships to players competing at national level and representing their country.

Macey Lane, who has played for the U-19 Welsh team and taken part in trials for the U-21s, won a boarding scholarship to the school a year ago after Caroline spotted her playing in South Wales. Macey, who plays for Wasps as well as Wrekin College, believes it has been invaluable for her to be able to study at a school which offers her so much support in her sporting endeavours around the clock.

‘I have a team around me here who really have been the greatest support, and teachers who have been wonderful in helping me to juggle everything. As a result, I have been able to push forward in netball and really go for it, but also feel that I am keeping up with my studies,’ said Macey. ‘Access to teams like Severn Stars and Wasps is an added bonus here at Wrekin College and I do believe schools have a significant role to play in helping to bring on sporting stars of the future.’

Former Wrekin pupils have represented England at U-19 level, with several also playing for Super League teams and

Wrekin’s Bella Crampton has gone on to play for Severn Stars

winning places in the national talent squad and West Midlands development league.

Headmaster Tim Firth believes that encouraging sport in this way also boosts a pupil’s performance in the classroom. ‘We have seen direct correlation between success in the sports field and academic improvement. Confidence and feeling good at something does mean you feel more willing to take on more in other areas of your life, including your studies. Wrekin enjoys an enviable reputation for pastoral care and helping pupils to manage the different areas of their lives. We use that connection with them and the sense of security they gain allows them to push on further. It works really well.’ Caroline Ritchie-Morgan is Head of Girls’ games at Wrekin College Severn Stars Nova Academy will be holding trial days for the 2018/19 Under 17 teams at Wrekin College on 7th and 14th September.

Interested players can find more information on the trial dates at Severn Stars or Wrekin College websites. More information on the summer camps is also available at www. wrekincollege.com