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.

In July the club received the Gold Caps Award, the highest available. We are the first club in Lincolnshire and Humberside Partnership to get this award. This marks the continued achievements of the club administration and all credit must go to Tracy for all her hard work

2012 as every body knows started with the economic down turn and the club like all others began to feel the strain. Although the members was still supportive a few started to miss the odd matches and training due to the fact that families could no longer afford the fuel to bring them every week. Despite this we started the new year with spirits height and finished the season with some spectacular performances.

Some of the seasons achievements:-  U14s won Lincolnshire league - came 4th in E. Midlands regional
 U16s won Lincolnshire league - came 2nd in E. Midlands regional and 16th at Nationals.  U19 A won Lincolnshire league
 U19 B came 2nd in Lincolnshire league.  Senior 3rds won 2nd Division in Lincolnshire league
 We got best overall attack, Under 14s best overall player, of the season. We also was voted East Midlands outstanding club of the season for the 2nd consecutive year. And named Lincolnshire county netball league club of the season for the 4th year on the run
 Plus many of our players picked up various county awards We have had 2 players selected for England trials since club started.
This last season 2011/12 - we have had 2 players play in the NTL (National Talent League) - and one player attend Regional training
and 27 took part in the county excel programme. In the 2010/ 11 season. we had 1 player in the NTL and 1 in the NTL development group
we had 4 in the regional programme and 22 in the county excel programme. We start the new season with a team laying in the Regional league. However finances will dominate the new season, with all the venues and equipment going up in price we will have to make a very determined effort to bring in more money. Let us all hope that are playing skills continue to show how it is done and, we stick to the principle of always playing fare

In the middle of the year we won the most prestige's award we could ever wish for from  England Netball, I have decided to print the whole citation and comments because they say it much better than I can

Brigg Netball Club success at England Netball's National Goalden Globe Awards 

This year's England Netball’s National Goalden Globe Awards were presented at the LG Arena in Birmingham. The awards are presented to volunteers (or volunteer clubs) who are considered by England Netball to have contributed the most to the advancement of netball. This can be in a number of areas such as coaching, umpiring, administration and general netball development. Every national finalist has already won their own respective region’s Goalden Globe Award in their category and therefore the winners of the National Goalden Globe Awards truly are this year’s best of the best. Lincolnshire’s Brigg & District won the National “Outstanding Club” Award for their continued exceptional contribution to netball within the community. The club actively encourages netball participation and provides competition for all of its members throughout the club, no matter what their ability is. The club enters numerous teams across all of the age categories in all of the available competitions, including the Lincolnshire County League and the Regional League – the highest level of netball played across the whole of the East Midlands Region (The East Midlands Region covers the five counties of Lincolnshire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, Leicestershire and Northamptonshire:  Within the last year, the club even started its own league to encourage ladies ‘Back to Netball’ – this initiative is part of an England Netball scheme, which has proved so successful in getting ladies playing netball again, that it is currently one of three finalists for a National Lottery award for the Best Sports Project Brigg & District’s Back to Netball league now has 9 teams playing regular fixtures, of which three have come through the ‘Back to Netball’ initiative. The club has also become an active member of an “inclusive” sports club, working with young people with moderate learning difficulties and hearing impairments. Brigg & District run netball sessions running every 4-6 weeks. The club has also helped fund its volunteers to gain qualifications – with a big focus being on up-skilling its umpires and coaches over the last season. The club pays the affiliations and cost of match kit for all of its volunteers. All volunteers are recognised alongside the players of the clubs at the annual presentation evening too. In the last 12 months the club has had 5 people pass their UKCC level 1 coaching exam and 1 person move from Level 1 to level 2. This means that the volunteers are now qualified to coach part or whole netball sessions. The award came on the back of a great season:

U14 Lincolnshire League winners and 4th place in East. Midlands
U16 Lincolnshire League winners - 2nd in East Midlands and 16th at the Nationals
U19 winners and runners up
Senior Div 2 Winners and 3rd place
Senior Div 1 winners - East Midlands joint 1st - Now playing in the Regional league
Plus one of our players took the Player o the season for the whole league

We won the Lincolnshire Club of the season for the 4th consecutive year - with individuals picking up awards - Volunteer of the year and Official of the year - and also won the East Midlands outstanding club of the season for the 2nd consecutive year - this was how we were then put forward as regional winners to the National selection
We had 2 players in the NTL (National Talent League) - 1 in Regional - and no fewer then 28 players in the Lincolnshire Excel Academies
2012/13 season has started off well for us - with 1 player getting into NTL and 5 getting into regional (only 25 places throughout East. Midlands are available - so we have 20% of them) And as our teams start their new fixtures we have had some great success already and look forward to many more We run various sessions for the competitive players to the social players and are involved in some "inclusive" sports sessions at Gainsborough.

Vanessa McErlain-Naylor, Chair of the club is delighted by her club’s success “I heard the nominations all read out by region and then I heard them say "and the winner is Brigg & District" - then I cant remember what else was said - I'm told they read out part of the nomination details - I just remember being in shock and shaking as I stood up and then I started to cry as I walked onto the stage to collect the award - then the next thing is fellow netballers hugging me and congratulating me - and having loads of photos taken - I felt so proud of what I have achieved and how I had grown the club since starting it in 2000” “I don't think it sunk in during the evening at all - and it was when I got up on Sunday and saw the award I realised it was real and the enormity of it all” “When I think of the small town Brigg is - and to think we have won a National award for Outstanding Club - I still think is this all a dream” 

 At the end of 2012 Vanessa as approached by the Jewish Sports Association to see if she was interested in a GB coaching job with the under 18s Jewish squad and take them to the19th Maccabiah games in Israel in 2013. What followed was a dream come true. These games take place every four years and follow a year after the Olympic Games, thus they have become known as the Jewish Olympics. The games are supported by more than 60 counties and include Juniors, Masters, Open and Paralympics categories. They are the third largest sporting event in the world after the Olympics and the Commonwealth Games. All in all there are many hundreds of competitors taking part in a number of different events: futsal, basketball, netball, rugby, half marathon, football, track and field, cycling, hockey, softball, ice hockey, golf, swimming and many more competitions. The GB netball teams from previous years had only ever achieved a silver medal and been runners up to Australia. All this was about to change for they had not counted on a woman from Brigg, who had set her sights on a gold medal for her and her team. The teams should have been wary from the offset, at a preliminary meeting that took place a few days before the game started, a delegate from South Africa stated that he and his team recognised Vanessa and was aware of the reputation of Brigg and District Netball team, and the fact that they had been awarded the most outstanding club in England 2012 by England Netball. After a struggle against Australia in earlier rounds, Vanessa coached her team to victory and made history by receiving the Gold medal and putting an end to Australia’s run of victories. This was the first netball game Australia has ever lost in the history of the Maccabiah. While she was basking in the glory of beating the World Champions she also assisted with coaching the seniors, resulting in their Bronze medal. In recognition of her skills, she was made the most outstanding coach of the Great Britain Junior squad. Since her victorious achievement the Israeli Netball Association has asked her to go back to Israel next year with her family and coach some local children both in and out of school, as well as their national side.

2013 /14 season saw the club playing its 2nd season in the regional senior league and able to give playing opportunities to some of its younger players to experience this higher level with the coming together of the senior team Daniel Antcliff and the formation of the Brigg Blades squad - who also play in the Humberside County Div league. Brigg Green seniors joined the Grimsby league and gained promotion out of the 4th division in its first season - something that Brigg White seniors did the previous year and this coming season they look to move in to the Doncaster league

How much more can our wonderful club achieve, the sky's the limit for us, but it could not be done without the truly fantastic club members 

2015 Started much as we always do, riding on the back of a fantastic last season. We retained our Gold Caps standard. We had to cope with a bit of upheaval in our training schedules and tournament location due to the renovation of the facilities at the Vale of Ancholm, but a good club can always master these little things. We finished the season. Won u14 county league, 2nd and 4th in u16 league, Won and 3rd in u19 league, Won and came 3rd in Senior 2nd div league, Won Humberside county senior league - and got promoted to Yorkshire Regional league, Came 2nd in Doncaster senior league, Gained promotion from div 3 - to 2 in Grimsby senior league, Seniors 2nd gained promoted to 2nd div in east Mids regional senior league, Senior 1st came 3rd in east midlands regional 2nd div, 2015/16 season we will have 3 senior teams all playing at regional level, Came 4th at regional u14 and u16s, 2 girls represented Yorkshire in the national u17 performance league - one girl got England trial, 100% of all players who attended trials for the England Performance pathway in Lincolnshire - gained a place and this has being repeated for the coming season (season starts Sept 2015) trails were sun 12/9/15. Stuart achieved his A award umpire - the first ever in Lincolnshire. Stuart was selected to umpire at all u14/u16 /u17/u19 national events. Ran a summer pre season 3 full day boot camp which was open to players across the county.