Whitton Netball Club

"Potential members, volunteers and supporters can now see at a glance that we're approved by England Netball," explains Whitton Netball Club's Maggie Gaunt. The club had wanted to join England Netball's Club Action Planning Scheme (CAPS), for some time but weren't sure they were going about it in the most effective way. The CAPS scheme is directly linked with Sport England's Clubmark, a cross-sport quality accreditation for clubs with junior sections that demonstrate that they are well run and provide quality coaching in a safe environment for children and young people.

For guidance and reassurance, the club’s committee turned to runningsports, a portfolio created and funded by Sport England which provides free downloadable resources and tutored workshops. runningsports’s A Club for All workshop helped them achieve CAPS status, and Whitton Netball Club now enjoys the benefits of being recommended as a high quality club.

Helping clubs achieve Clubmark status
Maggie is the Club's Junior Section Coach, and she knew that joining England Netball's CAPS would help the club tackle the issues it was facing. "Like most clubs," she explains, "we are entirely reliant on volunteers, from the committee to the coaches. Nothing would run without volunteers. Our biggest challenge is having enough coaches to meet player demand. Most of our volunteers are parents of our players, and we don't want to pressurise anyone to give their time and expertise - but we constantly need coaches for every age group."

In line with Sport England’s Clubmark, England Netball's CAPS scheme helps clubs function in the most efficient way, showing them clear pathways for development. Maggie knew that CAPS would help the club attract and retain more new volunteers as well as developing and supporting more coaches: both of which issues were high on the club's list of challenges.

runningsports’s A Club For All workshop helped Maggie and her colleagues to achieve CAPS status. "The workshop gave us a real confidence boost," Maggie explains. "It helped us realise we were on the right track in some areas, and gave us a guiding hand in areas we were less sure of. We are now able to publicise the fact that we are a CAPS club, so people know we are approved by England Netball. It's great news, particularly for our younger players who are really seeing the benefits."

With CAPS status, Whitton Netball Club is now recommended to potential members, their sports teachers and parents by the Active Surrey Sports Partnership, the County Sports Partnership (CSP) for Surrey that coordinates club development and sport. This means that existing players, particularly juniors, have more young people to play with than they are likely to find at non-CAPS clubs, and many of those players will be of a better standard. As Maggie says, "CAPS status means we can show parents that we are doing things the approved way and are following the approved structure."

A bright future for Whitton Netball Club
Since gaining CAPS status, Whitton Netball Club has gone from strength to strength, benefitting existing members and the local community alike by extending its inclusive reach. "We have an open policy for players up to 12 years old," explains Maggie, "we don't have trials, so anyone can play in matches. We also offer free places to girls who may struggle to afford subscriptions. This season, membership has increased to 121 girls from 110 last season."

The club has also recently been able to introduce a new Under 10 age group, with 18 new players.

Maggie sees a strong future for the Division One club: "Our aim is to support our junior members as they improve and progress through the sport. We're proud of the fact that we're an inclusive club, and enjoy balancing the needs of the elite players with those of the more social members. We have found that CAPS status has already enabled us to attract new players, and we now want to use it to attract a greater number of coaches, too." Most recently, the club has had four new Under 14 players at academy level recommended to them by the Netball Development Officer: this would not have happened had the club not had CAPS status. Another thing that might not have happened is the £1500 grant they recently were given by a local charity after highlighting their CAPS status in the application.

So it is clear that runningsports's A Club for All workshop was a key support for the club as it applied for CAPS status. That in turn has subsequently helped it in relation to growing membership, gaining more referrals from agencies like the CSP, and even improving standards of play as the club is now able to offer opportunities for good young netballers.

If you’re involved in managing an expanding club and would like to learn more about gaining Clubmark status, growing the grassroots of your sport or working up a club development plan, Maggie Gaunt at Whitton Netball Club shows how to use runningsports resources to make some positive changes quickly and simply.