BRIGG and DISTRICT NETBALL CLUB

A Local Club For Local Children

Club History

The club was started at the beginning of April 2000, to give young people a place to go and enjoy themselves whilst getting some physical exercise.

Funded by North Lincolnshire Council for the first four months and later by a National Lottery grant of £3,495.00. Since its conception the club as gone from strength to strength, entering teams in local and county competitions, even taking teams to national competitions in Torquay.

Each year the club host an open competition and entry is sort after because of the limited numbers that can be accommodated. Teams come from as far away as Oxford, Northampton, and Nottingham. Last year (2003) fifty teams took part, many putting their names down for next year before they left. The event could only have gone ahead with the generous sponsorship of the local Brigg District Lions, John Leggot Collage and Pickering’s of Brigg. Briggs own under 9’s took gold, and the under 11’s and 14’s bronze.

The clubs home venue and training is at Vale of Ancholme Sports Hall Grammar School Road Brigg. Without the support of which the club could not function. In November of 2000 the club held a very successful High Five day to attract new members.

In May 2000 the under 11’s made it to the semi finals of the Humberside youth games representing North Lincolnshire after coming third in the local event. Older members of the club were part of the county under13’s and came second. September 2000 the club coaches and the under 15’s joined together in a charity event held in Grantham and finished fourth. January 2001 the club was awarded All England Bronze Cap as a mark of the standards achieved and its policies.

March 2001 and the club held a trip to Manchester to watch the England verses Australia match. In 2001 the club attended a number of competitions from Horncastle, Sleaford, to Skegness in all the club exhibited its self in a most proficient way with the under 11’s and under 15’s picking up medals at most events. In May the club held a small inter club competition to mark the first birthday. Also in May Ex All England coach Liz Broomhead awarded the players the Coca Cola Skills award badges and certificates. The year was crowned in September by Vanessa being awarded the county volunteer award for Lincolnshire at the All England 75th Anniversary dinner held in Nottingham.

2002 started with the club receiving its second lottery grant £1,717.00. The year followed on in the same pattern as the previous year with the club entering events all across the area and coming away with medals at most of them. In September seven club members were selected to represent Lincolnshire at county level. The club now puts teams into the local Scunthorpe League and the Grantham Sunday League. October the seniors travelled to Torquay and came back only just missing out on the wooden spoon.

2003 started in the same successful way with the club travelling to all the local competitions and equating its self with respect. In April the under11’s win the gold at Sleaford. In May the under13/14’s go to Torquay determined to do better than the seniors did, and although the number of teams taking part was not as large they win gold in the versatility tournament and silver in the open age junior tournament. Along with the games they enjoyed trying out quad bikes, wall climbing, aero ball and all manner of other activities.

In July no fewer than 11 members are selected to represent the county with a further five at development level. In September the under 14’s and under 16 took gold at the Barge and Bottles tournament with the seniors coming fifth.

During the year the club held a trip to London to see England play in an international game and at the same time visited the Houses of Parliament, and took a trip on the London Eye. The club later held a trip to the commonwealth games in Manchester to support the national team. October and the club members who played for the county, were part of the gold winning squad at the East Midlands Championships. The under 14’s took another gold at Horncastle with the under12’s walking away with the bronze. The seniors again went to Torquay with the thoughts of having to face the juniors when they return if they did not do better than their last visit. This time they came third and came first in the fancy dress competition, blue wigs and all.

It was during the start of 2004 that the club launched its website, very different to what we see today.

At the end of the 2004/2005 season our under 16 team finished as league champions. This was the first year we had entered the league

The 2005 started with the club members saving up for the trip to Barbados. The excitement was at fever pitch especially among the younger members. The trip itself was a fantastic success and every body wanted to do it again, unfortunately the girls forgot that parents can not be asked to pay for this type of trip every year. Because of this we did not go on our usual journey down to the Torquay tournament in October.

2006 started with the end of season games still to play and it was obvious by now that we would not finish top of the league again this year, we had only lost two games, the same club home and away. This year we decided that our annual tournament that we host in July would be split over two different weekends, junior Hi 5  first and the senior 7 a side a couple of weeks later. The youngsters had fantastic weather and the day was a uncompromising success. Unfortunately the seniors had to put up with less favourable weather, wind and rain, but every body said that despite the weather they had enjoyed the day. During the year, one of our girls was selected to go to trails for the All England selection, however due to domestic circumstances she had to decline the trails. Not to worry there is always another year. Again the year ended with our annual fund raising run over the Humber Bridge followed by a picnic. This was another club success.

In 2007 we decided that with all the support and entries we had received over the years, the annual tournament would be held over three separate week-ends. The first for the juniors followed by the Hi5s, and finally the seniors. The juniors had their day. 17 June, and we managed to get through the day without getting to wet. Next it was the turn of the Hi5s 1st July Well it all looked as if we was going to be lucky, the expected rain that was due on Saturday failed to materialise, and even on the Sunday, first thing it looked good.  However when the time came it rained. How it rained, within minutes the water was up to the doors and raising fast, so we had no choice but to telephone everybody and give them the bad news. When it came to the seniors 15th July About two weeks before the man at the meteorology office said that the 15th July would be the hottest day of the year, temps in the 80s Fahrenheit, we would all need to stock up on sun bloc to save ourselves from sun burn. We was also told, that if we was taking part in any sporting, or rigorous exercise, we would require plenty of water to stop ourselves suffering from dehydration. Well we had the water, in plenty, but not as we had planned, we had so much, we had to consider changing from netball to water polo. But joking apart the day was not a washout, we had some excellent games, played in the true spirit of netball. Some teams travelled great distances to attend, and for that alone we are grateful. Finally on 22nd July we got the green light, so to speak, so it was all go for the Hi5s to have their day. Although the weather was not bad it could have been better, but the youngsters enjoyed themselves and that's all that matters. Let's hope that next year we get back to the hot sunny days that have favoured us in the past.

Later in the year the club received notification that it had been awarded  Sliver Accreditation Club Mark. The club mark is a Sport England mark of high quality Junior clubs. When the club first applied in 2001 it received a Bronze Accreditation, so to get a silver at our second assessment is good news, onwards and upwards.

On Tuesday 23rd October the club travelled to Malta for a six day tour playing a number of matches against local teams. After arriving at the hotel late on Tuesday evening, our teams played in their first tournament on Wednesday. The under 16s managed a 3 rd place. The seniors lost their matches, but our under 18s came a glorious first. Thursday both the younger teams won their matches, and Friday it was the turn of the seniors to register their first victory. Saturday and the junior sides have retained the winning run, but the seniors lost by 2 points. At the end of the tour the under 18s had gone without a defeat, and clearly showed what a good team they are. I think we can say that all the members who travelled with the club had a truly wonderful time. We have to say a special thank you to the Lord Mayor of Brigg for his kind donation of a number of special commemorative plates that we were able to present to the team captains of the Maltese clubs, leaving them with a memento of our visit.

On a cold Friday night in November, the club held a social evening, and a number of members and guest went to the Meadow Court Stadium, Doncaster, for an evening of dog racing. This was a special night, held by the Greyhound Sporting Leagues to assist sports clubs with their fund raising. All in all, I think it is safe to say every body had a great time, and the club is considering doing the same thing again, unless somebody can come forward with a better suggestion

2008 Started with the usual round of games, some age groups did well and others not so well. Because of the Malta tour the year previous we decide not to travel abroad this year and to wait and see what next year is like. Our annual tournaments suffered from the atrocious weather on all three days, but we didn't allow it to dampen our spirits. This year we had the privilege to welcome the Lord Mayor and his consort, along with other councillors to out tournaments. Rather than just stay for a short visit they stayed for a number of hours which pleased the more junior players and gave them something to tell their parents when they returned home. At the end of March we had a very happy team of 12 year olds, and under, who had just taken the glory of winning the Lincolnshire under 12 league title, pictures on the photographs page. This team continued its winning way through out the year. Our web site, that was started in 2002 and then redesigned in 2005 continued to show progress. From about 2,000 hits per month in the earlier days we have finished the year with 49,096 hits, and the number of pages increased from 7 to 14

2009  Was a great year, starting with our fantastic 12 year olds (under 13s) who went on to be awarded the junior team of the year at the North Lincolnshire sport and leisure awards in March . At the same awards ceremony Vanessa our head coach and club founder was awarded the coach of the year, for the second time. She is the first person to achieve this honour twice. 2009 also started with trials for the Lincolnshire Academy, nine girls were entered from various schools, all nine play for Brigg & District Netball Club and all nine got through to the North Satellite Academy. Again it shows what a depth of talent we have at the club! April  and our under 12s was declared Lincolnshire league champions, going through the season without defeat in the league. Earlier in the month Mark, Vanessa's husband, obtained a B umpiring award, this now made it possible for the club to have its own B award standard umpire.