As one the largest university netball clubs in the country, we strive to provide our members with a unique and focused club atmosphere. We offer our many members fantastic opportunities within our sport; opportunities to coach and umpire, to improve their skills on court and to socialise with other members of our club as well as other clubs and societies. Our girls are provided with good facilities and a great coaching team; all there to benefit them as a player.
Over the history of the club, we have always understood the importance of reaching out to multiple charities. We have always donated vast amounts of money to the Cystic Fibrosis Trust, as this charity and the disease it helps has left a personal mark on all of our members. Cystic Fibrosis is one of the UK’s most common life-threatening inherited diseases that affects over 9000 people in our country. We have campaigned to help this charity in a bid to support a past member of our club who suffered with the disease. However, this year we hope to reach out to a wider network of charitable organisations. Numerous members of our club annually take part in the BUPA Great South Run, an annual 10 miles road running race that takes place in Portsmouth. These girls are dedicated to raising money for Cancer Research UK, another fantastic cause. As well as fundraising events we are organising for the New Year, we also plan to work with the Portsmouth Food Bank, a local organisation that provides emergency food for those who need it. We feel it is always great to donate money to charities and run events to raise those funds, however, organisations like the Portsmouth Food Bank survive on food donations and would cease to exist without public help.
As a club, we always aim to promote and focus on a healthy and active lifestyle. Last year, our BUCS team members took part in a sponsored workout to raise money for RAG. This took place at the ROKO Health Club, where staff allowed us to use their gym and swim facilities to raise money for a charitable cause. We were invited to then use their pool for a pool party, eventually turning out to be one the best socials of our social calendar. This year, we hope to do a very similar event but are planning to use the facilities of our new sponsor, the Hilton Hotel.
Our increasingly successful intramural scheme is such an integral and important part of the University of Portsmouth Netball Club. Over the past few years, our intramural scheme has become a major success, boasting a fantastic number of dedicated girls who have helped develop our club into the respected and well awarded club we offer to our university students. Coaching and Community Representative of the UPNC, Amy Hewick, said: “This year, the skill and level of our intramural girls are a lot higher than in previous years, however this coincides with the participation levels remaining really strong. To keep a fun and competitive element within the intramural scheme, the team that wins the league gets to attend Varsity, Portsmouth‘s biggest student sporting event of the year. This is the first year that we have arranged this and really hope it will be a successful venture we continue to put into practise.” We aim to further the development of our intramural and community efforts over the coming year by continuing our work with Portsmouth College and schools within the Portsmouth area.
Our members are always keen to attend our weekly socials and with the encouragement and guidance of our social secretaries, we have all made friends for life. Last year was the first year we decided to host a sporting and social event for another university and it was a fantastic success. Brunel University were invited by us to take part in a weekend tournament and social event. Brunel University is a university that is renowned for boasting a fantastic netball club. Their facilities are immaculate and their training regime is rigorous, quickly reminding us that we had a hard job on our hands to please them. The weekend proved to be really enjoyable and we hope to host a similar event over the coming months.
We were extremely pleased to receive so many fantastic awards at the 2011 Athletics Union Dinner. We were proudly awarded Club of the Year Runners Up, Fundraiser of the Year and our coach, Judy Yoxall, was awarded Coach of the Year; an award she rightly deserves. Judy Yoxall is an asset to our club and shares a mutual understanding with us of how important it is to excel within your sport. She strives to make us work to our full potential and make the most of our training sessions, effectively benefiting us as players. Without guidance from Judy, our club achievements would suffer and with the assistance of our new second coach and past UPNC member, Vicky Froud, we look forward to extra success over the rest of the season.
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Eloise Johnson – Club Captain 2011/2012
