Successful Yorkshire Netball Bursary Scheme applications

We launched our Bursary Scheme in October. Find out more about some of the successful applicants

In October, Yorkshire Netball launched our Bursary Scheme. A scheme intended to help access Netball, grow Netball or support Netball in the Yorkshire region. We were pleased to receive an unexpected amount of applications.

In February, we caught up with some of the recipients of the bursary to see how it had improved their access to Netball.

Michelle applied for the bursary to help pay for her Umpire Assessors Course for INTO and C award umpires. This will help support the whole region as Michelle will be available to assess candidates when they are ready to become an umpire. If Michellehadn't received the bursary, she would have missed the opportunity to complete the course as you must pay in advance and Michelle wasnt able to fund this herself.

Bex is heavily involved in Netball across the region. She plays Netball regularly and was struggling with having to fund affiliation and match fees alongside budgeting for food and monthly bills. As well as playing regularly, Bex also completed her INTO officiating course and is working towards her practical assessment. Bexs Netball trainers were over 6years old and were no longer providing the grip and support that Netball trainers should. Bex applied for some money for a new pair of trainers, something that was desperately needed but she couldnt afford alongside other costs. Through being able to afford newtrainers, Bex can continue to play safely and complete her officiating assessment.

Next up we spoke to Charlotte who appliedto support her daughter's dream of playing for South Yorkshire County. Without being awarded the bursary, Charlotte would not be able to afford the fees for her daughter to join the team. Through the support the bursary has provided, Charlottes daughter is thriving. She has developed her playing and skills due to having coaching and time to progress in a sport that she loves. This allowed Charlotte's daughter to progress to a higher playing and coaching level, which is something that they didnt think was possible before the bursary.
Gemma applied for money for her mixed Netball team to allow them to buy vital equipment and kit. Gemma was able to get sessions for their male membership up and running, enabling them to play, lead, coach and umpire - skills that they wouldnt have been able to develop without equipment and kit. This bursary has allowed them to grow as a club in the new and exciting area of mixed gender Netball. As a result of the bursary, the club are recruiting more members to every session across a wide variety of ages.

Kiera couldnt play Netball due to recovering from a sprained ankle but wanted to be involved in Netball in whatever way she could. Whilst recovering, Kiera started her umpiring journey, helping out in team sessions. When the bursary window opened, Kiera saw the opportunity to apply for funding to start to develop her umpiring skills further and is looking forward to starting her INTO officiating course. The bursary means that their club can gain another person to support in umpiring games, which contributes towards developing the game play for the club Keira plays for.

Bursary scheme has three submission windows throughout the year We had a new round of applications in February window, and we look forward to sharing more successful recipient stories with you soon.