Netball Scotland Launches New Players Advisory Group
2nd October 2020
Netball Scotland are excited to announce the formation of our first ever Players Advisory Group. Our Scottish Thistles, Strathclyde Sirens and U21 coaches and captains will come together to ensure the collective player voice is heard within Netball Scotland. These voices will optimise player experiences and environment, enhance future learnings, and innovate to shape future player experiences provided by Netball Scotland.
Claire Maxwell, Scottish Thistles Captain, has witnessed the rise of netball in Scotland as she has progressed through the athlete pathway from a young age and this next step is no exception: “I am delighted to have a Players Advisory Group launched in Scotland. Netball has seen a rapid growth in professionalism over the past decade and I am excited to be on board to help support the future of netball players in Scotland.”
Tamsin Greenway, Scottish Thistles National Coach, is looking forward to being an integral part of this step in the right direction for our athletes in Scotland: “This is such an important and forward thinking move by Netball Scotland to introduce the Netball Players Advisory Group. When you talk about creating a culture and building success, a player’s voice and opinion is so important. To work towards a common goal when you feel you’ve all been heard and valued is so powerful and I look forward to seeing what we can achieve as a collective on this journey.”
In the creation of the Players Advisory Group, we have built a great relationship with the Netball Players Association (NPA) of which many of our players and coaches are a member of. The NPA’s primary aim is to represent the player’s views on issues affecting professional and semi-professional netball players in the United Kingdom.
Liz Bloor, NPA Managing Director, had this to say: “Working with our Scottish members and Netball Scotland to establish this group has been a very positive start in establishing a strong working relationship between the NPA and Netball Scotland. We are looking forward to building on this by continuing to provide support services to our members which complement the Netball Scotland programmes and ensuring that the players voice is at the heart of the decision-making process.”
As a member of the NPA, Karen Atkinson, Strathclyde Sirens Technical Director, is looking forward to the opportunities this will bring for our athletes: “These are exciting times for Netball Scotland, the Scottish Thistles and Strathclyde Sirens as we work closely with the Netball Players Association. I have always been a huge advocate of the NPA, it’s vision and of players having a voice at the performance level of the game so the creation of the Players Advisory Group will ensure that performance staff and players work closely on performance related matters to ensure there is open, clear, and transparent communication. It is a real positive step forward for the game in Scotland.”
Netball Scotland CEO Claire Nelson added: “This is an important move for us as a sport and organisation. I have always advocated strongly for the player’s voice to be integral in key strategic and operational decision making and now through the formation of our new Advisory Group we can advance and improve on how we engage with our existing and future elite athletes in order to achieve our collective ambitions on the court. My thanks must go to the NPA for their support and guidance throughout the development and launch of the Group – I look forward to working closely with them as we strive to ensure netball leads the way in the support, development and protection of elite athletes.”
