Netball Scotland is delighted to announce that we have successfully appointed our first three Netball Development Officers (NDO’s) who will ensure we fulfill our commitment to investing in local communities to raise the profile of netball, increase accessibility, and create opportunities for all to participate, engage, volunteer, compete and perform in the sport of netball.

Marie Clark (Aberdeen), Rita Venermo (Edinburgh), and Eilidh McLeod (Perth & Kinross) were welcomed into the Netball Scotland Team on Wednesday 1st September 2021 and are now settling into their new roles and ready to support the return and rebuild of netball.

Natalie Cassells, National Development Manager for Local Associations & Clubs said, “The introduction of Netball Development Officers is the next big step in achieving our ambitions of strengthening the netball infrastructure to sustainably grow and create more opportunities for people to access our sport. Having people on the ground locally will accelerate netball achieving this goal and we have three fantastic, dedicated, passionate, and motivated women in these roles. Eilidh, Marie, and Rita have already started to connect and engage with their netball community and are ready to listen and support. So, whether you’re already active in our sport or looking to connect with us for the first time, get in touch with our NDO’s for support and guidance to enhance or begin your netball journey.”

These new appointments have only been made possible through collaborative work and investment from Local Associations and key partners. The Local Associations that have committed to co-funding the NDO posts to support growth and development for their clubs and communities are Aberdeen and District Netball Association, The City of Edinburgh Netball Association, and the Perth & Kinross Netball Network.

To further enhance this investment, our partners from The University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen Sports Village, The University of Edinburgh & Perth College UHI, have all invested in their local NDO. Together all partners, led by Netball Scotland, will support the Netball Development Officer to thrive and succeed with this exciting new opportunity.

Marie, Rita and Eilidh can be contacted at:

NDOAberdeen@netballscotland.com
NDOEdinburgh@netballscotland.com
NDOPerthKinross@netballscotland.com

Scottish Thistles Head Coach, Tamsin Greenway, announced today that she has appointed Sara Francis-Bayman as her Assistant Coach as she prepares to kick off her Commonwealth Games 2022 campaign. The Loughborouigh Lightning Head Coach is no stranger to the Scotland side as she played alongside many of the Thistles athletes as a Siren in the 2018 Vitality Netball Superleague season.

After retiring as an athlete at the end of that season, she took on the Head Coach role at Loughborough Lightning leading the team to the Semi-Finals in her inaugural season and going on to win the 2021 League Final this June at the Copperbox Arena in London live on Sky Sports. An ex-England Roses athlete who has an accomplished playing career which includes a season in New Zealand with Central Pulse where she made the Grand Final, Francis-Bayman brings with her a wealth of expertise and passion that Greenway is excited to bring into her Thistles programme.

Tamsin said of her new Assistant Coach: “Getting the right assistant coach was crucial as we continue to build, grow and develop here in Scotland. Sara and I both came through the high-performance programme at Bath and played together for a long time. She is a smart, driven individual who knows how to win and more importantly knows how to get the best out of players. After her season at Sirens she understands the setup here, what works and what needs to be pushed on. I know the players will be excited to have someone with her class on board and I can’t wait to start working with her this summer”.

Sara Francis-Bayman shares Tamsin’s vision for Scotland and is excited by her new role, saying: “Scotland are a rapidly improving team who have a huge amount of potential and I’m looking forward to working with Tamsin to help them to challenge at the highest level. I’ve known both Tamsin and Karen for a long time and couldn’t miss the opportunity to work with them to take the Scottish Thistles to the next level. We’ve seen how much talent there is in Scotland through the Sirens’ performances and I hope to contribute to that potential being transferred into results”.

Karen Atkinson, who was recently announced as the new Performance Director for Netball Scotland added: “It is important that we prepare the Thistles in the best way possible heading into a Commonwealth Games year and then into the Netball World Cup. It is fantastic to be able to add a coach of Sara’s calibre to Tamsin’s coaching team. Sara was an exceptionally smart player. She understood the game and its dynamics extremely well and she has now transferred that to becoming a title-winning coach with Loughborough Lightning. Her hunger to win and her drive for player development is second to none and we need that ruthless, winning mentality within our Scottish Thistles squad if we are to achieve our ambitions in world competition”.

Netball Scotland CEO, Claire Nelson, is excited by the powerhouse coaching team that she is building in Scotland. “We know we’re a small nation with a lot of work to do to be able to truly compete with and challenge the top nations on the world stage. But what we have already proven through Sirens this past season is that we have the raw talent, passion, and belief to punch well above our weight, and when this is underpinned by world-leading coaching expertise, we are giving ourselves the best shot possible to go into world competition and achieve our targets.”

She continued: “The introduction of Sara to our national programme is incredible. When I think about the Coaching team that we now have here in Scotland I have to pinch myself, but we are under no illusions about the scale of tasks ahead of us. However, we are all so ready to take on this challenge together as one connected, empowered team. Watch this space because we mean business!”

Greenway and Francis-Bayman will both be in action together for the first time next week when Scotland hosts Wales and Northern Ireland in a weekend of friendly match play.