Netball Scotland strengthens development team to grow the sport throughout Scotland.

Netball Scotland is delighted to announce several appointments within the development team lead by new senior appointment, Director of Development, Carol Harvey.

Carol is a highly experienced senior leader and sports development professional, having most recently worked for Scottish Golf to lead on their Women and Young People Strategy which was activated in partnership with the Scottish Government and Event Scotland around the Solheim Cup. From there, Carol took on a critical role throughout and post COVID as Senior Business and Delivery Manager for NHS Greater Glasgow.

On Carol’s appointment CEO Claire Nelson says;

“I’m delighted to welcome Carol Harvey into this important senior role for Netball Scotland to lead the growth and development of our sport domestically. No stranger to Netball Scotland, Carol was one of our original Regional Development Managers covering Glasgow and the West from 2014 through to 2018, and when she left us she said she felt her journey with netball wasn’t over yet – and she was right! She has already made a huge impact in the business since starting a few weeks ago and I know that she is going to deliver really great things for our sport as we head into our next Strategic Cycle.”

Carol is delighted to return to the Netball Family;

“I am so excited to return to NS to lead the development of the sport and to deliver results against the new 4-year strategy “Destination 27 -Closing the Gap”.  Working with our amazing development team we will strive to deliver ambitious membership growth in both junior and senior clubs, with a real focus on developing our participation programmes such as social and walking netball to offer opportunities for all. “

Leading a new internal structure which includes four key Netball Development Officers (NDO’s) and a newly appointed National Development Manager focusing on Education and Competitions, Carol says the future of Netball in Scotland is very bright;

“Our development Team is strengthened by the four Netball Development Officers working across the country focused on growing our membership and increasing participation. And I am also delighted to welcome David Bordes to the team who has just joined us as National Development Manager for Education and Competitions and will drive the development of our workforce and competition.

“Growing participation is key to creating a healthier country and to closing the gender participation gap in Scotland. Netball Scotland membership numbers have returned to pre-pandemic figures and now the aim is continued growth with a focus on participation across all ages and abilities.”

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

Netball Scotland is delighted to announce the promotion of Karen Atkinson into the new role of Performance Director. Karen joined the organisation two years ago as Technical Director for Strathclyde Sirens and in that time has developed one of the most professional and effective training programmes in the Vitality Netball Superleague (VNSL) which resulted in the team achieving its best-ever season result since joining the League back in 2017. Despite leading the Sirens team on match days this season, behind the scenes Karen has been working with the Netball Scotland Performance Team, including new Scottish Thistles Head Coach Tamsin Greenway, to develop an enhanced performance pathway and programme for Scotland which she will now strategically lead for the organisation.

Karen says of her new role: “I am excited about the prospect of taking the knowledge I have gained through many years of working within a variety of high-performance sporting systems and applying it to the challenges and opportunities we have in Scotland. There is so much untapped potential in this country that simply needs the right environment, support and programme to thrive. Being able to work with and empower quality people such as Thistles Head Coach, Tamsin Greenway and Sirens Head Coach, Lesley MacDonald, only makes this opportunity more exciting. I am looking forward to working with them, to thinking creatively and to moving our International and VNSL programmes forward”.

Karen’s appointment to Performance Director comes after the implementation of a full organisational review and restructure as a result of COVID which included the successful recruitment of a new COO, Stephanie Karvelis, who starts in post today. CEO, Claire Nelson, is excited by this injection of expertise into the Executive leadership team and believes that Karen can lead Scotland’s performance programme and pathway to the next level: “Karen has more than proved what she can do in terms of developing high performing programmes, attracting talent and empowering players and coaches to realise their potential. Now I want to empower her to do this on a national scale for us, building a powerful, effective and sustainable programme that enables Scotland to achieve our ambitions both domestically in the Superleague as a professional Club and on the world stage where we have set ourselves some challenging targets.

I believe that Karen Atkinson is one of the best Coaches and strategic minds in our sport and together we are building one of the strongest high-performance coaching teams in world netball because we believe in, and are investing in, Scotland’s future on the court. Her appointment to PD feels like a really natural evolution of her role at a really critical time for the organisation. I’ve seen her plans and cannot wait to see what she and the Performance Team deliver over the coming seasons.

Netball Scotland are thrilled to launch our very first Academic Partnership with St George’s School, Edinburgh.

This exciting collaboration is a first of its kind for Netball Scotland and one that will see us work together with St George’s to increase community participation in netball and engage with more young people as we continue to promote the many benefits of sport to overall health and wellbeing.

St George’s have already played an instrumental role in the restart of netball in Edinburgh by opening their doors and the access to their fantastic outdoor netball facilities to some of the existing netball community. Joining forces with the highly regarded girls’ day and boarding school allows us the opportunity to further collaborate and open up more opportunities to engage with and inspire young people through the power of sport.

Clare Nelson, CEO of Netball Scotland;

“I am immensely proud of this new partnership with St. George’s – a partnership which I hope will create a powerful model for how we grow and develop as a sport through young people, education and communities. This partnership reflects our commitment to using our platform and power as a sport to engage with, educate, empower and inspire the next generation of leaders, athletes, volunteers and game changers who are needed to build a better, fairer and more equal world for all, in and outside of sport.”

Geraldine McGuire, Head of Development, Netball Scotland;

“We are very much looking forward to activating our first Academic Partnership with St George’s School for Girls.  Together we are fully committed to using sport and physical activity to intentionally bring about positive change for individuals and communities.  Combining our knowledge and expertise in netball and the education sector, this is an exciting opportunity for us to make a positive impact on the physical and mental health and wellbeing of both the girls at St George’s and members of the wider community.”

Alex Hems, Head of St George’s School, Edinburgh;

“This partnership with Netball Scotland is an exciting step forward for St George’s. We are delighted to have this chance to combine expertise and experience with such a dynamic governing body, to open up opportunities for access to netball for women and girls across Scotland. Together I am sure we can be significant change-makers in the game and in education. This is an inspiring and important new era for empowering girls through sport.”

Mel Benson, Head of Lower School & Community Engagement, St George’s School;

“It has been so rewarding working with Netball Scotland to help restart the sport on the back of the pandemic. We are passionate about opening our doors and creating and facilitating as many opportunities as possible for girls, women and the wider community to play, compete and enjoy the sport netball. With a very active programme already in place, we are very much looking forward to unlocking further opportunities under the 3 strands; Women & Girls, Education and Community.”

Netball Scotland has a clear Mission to ‘lead the sustainable growth of netball and its people’ and a bold Vision ‘to be the first-choice sport for girls and women in Scotland’ by 2025.  This will be achieved by engaging, empowering and inspiring members, partners and stakeholders across Scotland to be part of our sport.

Underpinning this key ambition is our Strategic Plan, Polaris.  “Empowerment” is a key focus area with the plan whereby Netball Scotland will strive to support clubs to grow and develop a quality infrastructure for the sport.

Netball Scotland currently seeks a Regional Development Manager for the East & Central Region to deliver against this key objective.  The RDM will work in partnership with local sports development, community sport hub and active schools colleagues across the region to enhance the existing netball provision and support the growth of local netball clubs.

Salary                                                  £23,000 – £25,000 per annum (relevant to experience)

Contract                                              Fixed term to 31^st March 2019 (extension subject to continued sportscotland funding)

Closing Date for Applications          12 Noon Monday 23rd April 2018

Shortlisting                                          Tuesday 24th April 2018

Interviews                                            Friday 27th April 2018

Application forms can be downloaded from the Vacancies section of our website, and should be forwarded to karen.dunn@netballscotland.com

For more information or an informal discussion please contact: –

Geraldine McGuire, Head of Development on, HoD@netballscotland.com 0141 428 3467 or 07748 846364   

In line with the Equality Act 2010, Netball Scotland will endeavour through our policies, procedures, actions and decision-making to ensure that no employee, volunteer or member receives less favourable treatment on the grounds of age, disability, gender assignment, marriage and civil partnership, pregnancy and maternity, race, religion and belief, sex or sexual orientation. In line with the Equality Act 2010.  All members of society are actively encouraged to apply.