In a significant announcement, Netball Scotland has confirmed the resignation of Karen Atkinson, the Performance Director who has been instrumental in shaping the future of Scottish netball.

A Legacy of Growth and Development

Karen’s leadership over the last four and a half years has revolutionised Netball Scotland’s performance strategies. The remarkable growth of the performance programme and pathways under her guidance is a hallmark of her tenure.

Reflections from Karen Atkinson

Karen shares her heartfelt thoughts on leaving, emphasising the collective effort in elevating Netball Scotland’s status. Her journey, marked by strategic development and collaborative success, sets a high benchmark for future leadership.

“It is with a heavy heart that I leave my role as Performance Director at Netball Scotland. I have thoroughly enjoyed my four and a half years working with the governing body and leading the performance strategy. The performance programme and the pathway have grown and developed beyond recognition, which is a testament to the hard work and dedication of the Netball Scotland staff, the Performance team, Scottish Institute of Sport support staff, volunteer coaches, and all the athletes involved. It has been a pleasure to work with all the staff, stakeholders, and athletes to raise the standards and provide Scotland with a solid foundation by which they can continue to grow.”

Commendations from Netball Scotland Leadership

Lucy Faulkner, Chair of Netball Scotland says, “It’s always sad when we lose treasured members of staff and Karen leaving is a tough one. We are so grateful to Karen for sharing her powerful vision for what we could achieve and for putting strong foundations in place so we can continue to work towards this vision.  A consummate professional, who has delivered with pride and passion to inspire so many people to believe they can be even better in our sport,  I wish Karen good luck and wish her well in her new role.”

Ken Hay, Interim CEO says, “Karen has been an invaluable asset to Netball Scotland, bringing expertise, passion, and a deep commitment to the sport. Her efforts have left an indelible mark on the sport in Scotland, setting a high standard for future endeavours. On behalf of the whole team, we express our deepest gratitude to Karen for her tireless dedication and significant contributions to Netball Scotland. Her legacy will undoubtedly inspire future generations within Scottish netball.”

Their testimonials highlight her visionary approach and the lasting impact of her contributions.

Moving Forward

Karen’s resignation comes in the wake of her international relocation and a shift towards balancing her professional career with family life. Her new venture, while away from netball, promises to continue her trajectory of excellence and innovation.

Karen Atkinson’s tenure at Netball Scotland will be remembered as a transformative era. As she embarks on new challenges, the organisation and its members look forward to building upon the strong foundations she has laid.

Strathclyde Sirens Super League Netball Franchise will be launching four U19 Academies for the 2021-2022 season. The Academies will be based in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Perth and Lanarkshire and will be open to players across Scotland.

The introduction of the academies comes off the back of a thorough pathway review and shift in approach within Scotland. The pathway will now sit under the Sirens brand, starting with the U15 and U17 District programmes into U19 Sirens Academies. These Academies will feed into the newly created Sirens Development Squad and finally aiming for Sirens VNSL Squad representation.

Karen Atkinson MBE, newly appointed Performance Director, said of the new structure;

“It was apparent that we needed to retain more players within the pathway and provide greater opportunities for quality training and exposure to match play. The U19 Academies, along with the Sirens Development Squad, will bridge a large gap that sits between our U17 age groups and Super League/International representation. We are looking forward to working with the academies in this 1st year, exposing them to tough match play and providing them support within their training environment”.

Lesley MacDonald, Head Coach of Strathlcyde Sirens, believes the Academies will generate a larger pool of athletes to vie for VNSL contracts,

“This is an exciting development within the Sirens pathway, it provides a new opportunity to expose more athletes at this level and provide a clear pathway for them to aspire to be a Strathclyde Siren”.

Tamsin Greenway, Scottish Thistles Head Coach, speaks of the impact the new pathway will hopefully have on the Senior International Team;

“This is a really positive and vital addition to our pathway and one that will hugely benefit our Thistles setup. Addressing the gap between U17 and U21 Scotland teams was crucial. By being able to give the best U19 athletes opportunity to both train and compete we will not only give them further time to develop but will also widen our talent pool which is essential for our growing Thistles ambitions.”

*Please keep an eye on social media platforms as information on trials for the four academies will be coming soon. The trials are ‘open’ (you do not need to live or play netball in that district) and players can trial for as many academies as they wish if they are prepared to travel for the training. Players must be 17 or over and U19 on 31st December 2021.

Women and Girls in Sport Week is here, and although we love to shout about the fabulous Women and Girls involved in our Sport all year round, it’s time to step it up!

This year we want you to shine a #SPOTLIGHT on your Netball experience during this hugely important national awareness campaign. Women and Girls in Sport week will run across the UK and Ireland between the 28^th of September and the 4^th of October and aims to celebrate the success of female leaders in sport whilst also highlighting the importance of those who work behind the scenes to support and inspire wider female participation in sport.

Each day, throughout this week long online campaign, we want to focus on a different theme, we want to tell stories, share pictures and post videos centred on the incredible women and girls involved in netball across Scotland with the aim of creating as much noise across social media as we can.

So, we’re inviting you to get involved in the conversation right now and share your experiences, photos and videos with us under the hashtag #ChangingTheGame.

Join the conversation using the hashtag #ChangingTheGame & #SheCanSheWill

We’d love it if everyone involved in netball in Scotland joined in on this hugely important conversation. We’re looking for as many stories as possible, because after all you are netball, the more stories/photos/videos we get, the louder we can shout about Netball in Scotland across our digital channels over the week.

#GetInvolved with our daily campaign themes by sharing your own stories!

Each day this week we will focus on a different theme and we want you to #GetInvolved and help us share this message! Share with us your netballing photos and videos to share across our platforms, and why not include a short bio of why you’re #ChangingTheGame

1. Monday: Where, when and how are you #ChangingTheGame, shout about your own netball development.
2. Tuesday: Highlight the fantastic work of volunteers, the hidden heroes of the game.
3. Wednesday: Share your best photos supporting our Sirens/Thistles.
4. Thursday: Discuss the opportunities for young, aspiring athletes.
5. Friday: Round up – Highlights of the Week.

Tag, you’re it!

Don’t forget to tag Netball Scotland and/or Strathclyde Sirens each day of the week when you post so we can share your stories as far and wide as we can! You can find us here:

• Twitter @NetballScotland / @SirensNetball
• Facebook @NetballScotland / @StrathcydeSirens
• Instagram @NetballScotland / @SirensNetball

Scotland’s elite netball team, the Strathclyde Sirens, return to Glasgow on Friday night to host their first home game of the 2019 season.  Playing 5-time league champions Team Bath, the Sirens have won this home fixture the last two seasons, and will be looking to make it three from three this week.

Following a successful trip to Birmingham last weekend, the Sirens brought home a win from their 1st round match against Surrey Storm (56-38), read the match report here.  We are relying on our amazing home crowds travelling from across Scotland to join us from 6.30pm on Friday 11th January and #BeTheNoise, to support our Scottish Thistles athletes and their Sirens teammates.  This year it is all about preparing the Thistles for the Netball World Cup in July, and these are the matches that are going to do exactly that.

Need a little taster of what you can expect from this seasons stellar Sirens line up? Check out the highlights from our Super 10 match against Surrey Storm on the Sky Sports website.

Tickets are available online, starting from just £7 (plus booking fee).  In addition, all Netball Scotland members can access an exclusive 25% discount through the code supplied on their membership confirmation email.  If you are a member of Netball Scotland but don’t have this information to hand, please contact membership@netballscotland.com or call the office on 0141 428 3460.

Unable to make it to Glasgow this week?  Don’t you worry!  We have a full season ahead of us which means you have lots of opportunities to get behind our team, our amazing mascot Serena (we cannot wait for you to meet her) and make this the best Vitality Netball Superleague Season yet!  For more information on the Strathclyde Sirens and their upcoming fixtures, please visit www.sirensnetball.com

Help us spread some festive cheer and design our Christmas 2018 e-card for our members and partners.  Open to all aged 13 and under, we want to see your festive flair come to life.  Entrants can create whatever design they like however including an element of netball would be preferable.

The prize:
Our chosen design will be used by Netball Scotland across email, on the Netball Scotland website and used on all Netball Scotland social media.  Our lucky winner will also receive 4 tickets to the Strathclyde Sirens v Team Bath Vitality Netball Superleague match on Friday 11^th January, at the Emirates Arena, Glasgow.  Furthermore, the winner will join Strathclyde Sirens Captain, Claire Maxwell, on court as her mascot for the game.

How to enter:
Please ask a teacher, parent or guardian to take a picture of the finished design, and email this to membership@netballscotland.com

Designs must be submitted to Netball Scotland by no later than Monday 10^thDecember.

Terms and conditions:

• By entering the competition, entrants are giving Netball Scotland the right to use their design, copyright free.
• By entering the competition, the prize winner gives their agreement to publicity about their win (or if under 16 this is needs to be given by parent / guardian).
• One entry per person, multiple entries can however be made from one email address.
• The winning design will be selected by our CEO, Claire Nelson.
• Winners will be contacted via email.
• The winner’s names will be displayed on our website, social media and all graphics incorporating their design.

From all of us at Netball Scotland we wish you lots of luck with your designs, and cannot wait to announce our winner.  We will reveal our Christmas 2018 design across all digital channels on Monday 17th December 2018.

We are delighted to share the news that Netball Scotland’s former Chair, Freda Hutchison, has been named in yesterday’s Queen’s Birthday Honours List. She has been awarded an MBE for her services to netball.

Freda, who was the Chair of the Board from 2011 until September last year, lead the organisation through its most significant phase of growth and development, including moving the HQ to the Emirates Arena, hosting the World Youth Netball Champs in 2013, competing in our first ever Commonwealth Games in Glasgow 2014 and successfully bidding for, and last year launching, a Netball Superleague Franchise, the Sirens.

Joining the organisation at a time when there were only a handful of staff and members, and the national team, the Scottish Thistles, were ranked 17^th in the world, Freda was instrumental in helping to build a strong Board and Staff who could deliver an ambitious strategy of progression and advancement for the sport. Today, Netball Scotland is recognised as one of the most respected and exciting NGBs in UK sport.

Outside of her demanding role as Chair of the NS Board, Freda was a highly respected Head Teacher in Secondary Education before retiring in 2010. Always a trailblazer, Freda was one of the first women to be promoted to Principal Teacher in Lanarkshire in the ‘80s, and was always passionate about encouraging and empowering young women to follow their dreams and achieve their potential.

Freda has also been a Chair of the Children’s Panel and also leads one of the country’s biggest Health Walks, with over 60 participants taking part each week!

On being awarded the MBE, Freda said:

“I am very proud and hugely delighted to be honoured by the Queen with an MBE for my former role as Chair of the Netball Scotland Board. I wholeheartedly feel this award is also national recognition for all of the volunteers in our organisation who, in tandem with our hard working, dedicated and professional staff, have helped the sport and organisation to achieve our fantastic successes in recent years. Together we have been responsible for the exciting development of our sport.

I am immensely proud of Netball Scotland’s achievements and feel privileged to have played a very small part in its history and legacy. I look forward to continuing to be involved as we move forward and go from strength to strength as a sport.”

Netball Scotland CEO, Claire Nelson, added:

“It is wonderful that Freda has been recognised in this manner and awarded the MBE. She has dedicated the last 7 years to supporting and driving the advancement of our sport, and she has played an integral part in getting Netball Scotland into the shape it is in today – well governed, confident and ambitious.

We are so proud of Freda, and the entire Netball Scotland family would like to congratulate her on being awarded this richly deserved accolade. Together we #SucceedAsATeam.”