ACADEMY

The Welsh Netball Academy is a bespoke programme which allows selected talented young athletes to combine high performance training alongside academic study. The Academy is currently based at the University of Wales Institute Cardiff (UWIC) and there are 18 athletes involved in the programme with ages ranging from 15-23 years. Athletes involved train either on a full time basis or part time basis from Monday to Friday, depending on their academic commitments.

The Academy training programme is designed to accommodate the specific needs of its athletes, in order to ensure the continued development and progression in a number of key areas identified by the Head Coach and the National Performance Director.

There are four levels of training opportunities or services offered at the Academy:
1. Weekly and on request coaching including contact with support service staff for strength and conditioning.
2. Monthly contact with support staff and sport education support
3. Invited participation for special events
4. Attendance at general netball camps, workshops and field days offered during the year.

This programme offers opportunity for athletes to develop however, the ultimate aim is for players to be self-sufficient, taking ownership and responsibility of their own development and learning at all times.

There are four main themes which the programme is focused around:
. Physical conditioning
. Technical development: Movement skills e.g. jumping, turning, agility. Technical skills e.g. getting free, shooting, catching.
. Game understanding; e.g. defending the shot, attacking principles on the centre pass.
. Social, emotional and intellectual development and lifestyle management.


The Academy is an ideal environment for young athletes, who want to develop their game to the highest level. Without the Academy many of these talented young athletes may only have contact with high performance coaches once or twice a month at national training camps, the daily contact with the coach at the Academy allows them to progress steadily, and develop into a complete athlete. The design of the programme encourages the athlete to engage in a learning process, allowing them to understand the reasons why they need to focus on a variety of skills, such as intellectual and emotional rather than just technical skills, which ultimately increases their chances of achieving their end goal of competing for Wales. For me as Coach the Academy is all about transfer of knowledge, not only from myself to the players but between the players themselves - we are all able to learn something new from or about each other every time we meet, which is fantastic! The athletes involved learn to be analytical about their performance both on and off the court, they set goals and targets, they work hard to improve themselves as both athletes and people and I am proud to be a part of the whole process.

The programme works on a needs analysis basis rather than a squad basis. As it is an ongoing process new players are introduced after observation at the Tier trials and training sessions. Athletes are assessed using a set of Performance Standards complied by the National Performance Director and with reference to the Long Term Athlete Development principle.

The programme supports the development of athletes who ultimately could represent Wales in various competitions in the future e.g. 4 athletes from the Academy represented Wales in the Netball World Championships in New Zealand in November 2007 and 7 athletes represented the Welsh Select U21 team in a match against a South African U19 side in North Wales in December 2007.

In recent years the programme has gradually seen the introduction of guest coaches and coaches from different sports, this has now become a permanent feature with guest coaches coming in once a month. The Academy includes an Athletes Lifestyle element, whereby the athletes have an hour long session a week with the Head Coach or guest speakers, where they are educated in a variety of Athlete Lifestyle issues. The programme covers a number of topics including Nutrition, Goal Setting and Sleep, Rest and Recovery. The addition of Athlete Lifestyle sessions to the programme has allowed a more detailed understanding of the best way to manage all aspects of their lifestyle, in order to provide themselves with the best opportunity to achieve their goals within Netball and also academically.

The Academy provides opportunities for both social development and responsibility to each other and the programme. Through simple, but effective, processes like the 'buddy groups' and chains, code of conduct and disciplinary/action format, personal responsibility is developed. This enables the players to expand and utilise their life skills, which it is hoped will be transferred onto the court and develop good decision making.

The Strength and Conditioning Programme provided at the Academy supports and facilitates adherence to the programmes being undertaken elsewhere by some of the athletes, such as the group session on a Tuesday evening at WIS. The main focus for the Academy programme is to enable the athletes to feel comfortable and confident with what they are doing for Strength and Conditioning work, as previously this has been one of the causes of non-adherence.

Great value is placed on using the process of reflection to develop the athlete, regular review meetings are set up with the 'group' as well as individual one on ones. This enables the requests and needs of both the individual and the coaches to be catered for with additional individual sessions for players then available and utilised on request.

An ethos of further learning, encouraging and facilitating athletes to gain coaching, umpiring and other relevant qualifications exists. Further to this ethos the programme has also introduced player tasks whereby athletes teach themselves and others information with reference to the relevant topic area set. For example, one player has already conducted a theoretical and practical presentation on recovery and two others have completed a similar task on nutrition.

A video library of international matches is also available to study. Individual videos have also been prepared by the Welsh Netball Performance Analyst for the athletes and the Head Coach to use in conjunction with their training.

The Academy programme is also used to deliver some of the aims relating to the promotion of Netball and improvement in the knowledge and standard of Netball within Wales.

The Academy athletes will have the opportunity to tour Wales as part of a National Development Tour later in the year. The Tour allows our athletes to disseminate information to other players and coaches, as well as practice their own delivery as coaches. It also provides a great opportunity for aspiring young netball players to identify with and meet their female 'role models', some of whom will play for their country in the very near future!

Sara Hale
Academy Coach [email protected]

Example of a typical weeks training:
Monday - Fitness/ Technical session (on court) 7.30-9.00am

Tuesday - Pool session (swimming pool) 7.30-8.30am

Wednesday - Technical session (on court) 7.00-9.00am

Thursday - Strength & Conditioning session (Gym) 7.30-9.00am

Friday - Technical session/ Lifestyle Management session (on court) 7.00-9.00am

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