Shipley ladies having a ball (From Bradford Telegraph and Argus)

Shipley ladies having a ball

12:00pm Thursday 9th December 2004 in Sport

Shipley Netball Club may not have a home of its own - but 80 dedicated players are fighting for places in its six league teams.

Aged between 15 and 54, the Shipley members epitomise the dedication and enthusiasm which surges through the netball ranks in West Yorkshire.

Shipley player and umpire Sue Hewitson said: "Netball is thriving in the Bradford area. It is true that football

is becoming very popular with girls at school these days, but netball is still played a lot.

"You have to be very fit, very agile to play netball at a good level. You need lots of stamina and shooting has to be very accurate. You also have to build up your court strength so you can maintain it for the whole hour.

"The players do the work in this sport - not the ball. You do a lot of running when you haven't got the ball - moving into space or clearing the area."

Netball is the No 1 team sport played by women in England. Players from all walks of life cut their nails short and sacrifice their weekends in search of league points.

And during the week, like with any other arduous sport, a lot of training and coaching takes place.

Netball is a non-contact sport but can be a very fast game. The match lasts an hour with breaks every 15 minutes. There are seven players in a team and a maximum of 12 players make up a squad to allow for substitutes.

While Shipley play their matches at a number of venues, including Cleckheaton, Dewsbury and Elland, players train every Wednesday evening at Hanson School in Bradford.

"We draw our players from a wide area including Leeds, Halifax and Huddersfield," said Hewitson. "Next year will be our 30th as a club. We play to a good standard and have county players Charlotte Williams and Laura Griffiths in our ranks."

Shipley also have several promising stars in their Shipley 3 development squad, including West Yorkshire under-18s Emma Clarke and Rebecca Dickinson and Kirsty Hemingway, who has represented West Yorkshire at Open level.

Shipley's first and second teams are in the West Yorkshire Super League - and when they clash they are always needle matches.

Shipley 3 play in the West Yorkshire Premier Division, Shipley 4 in Division Two and Shipley 5 & 6 in Division Three.

Hewitson believes young players should learn to play in all positions on the court.

"To be a good netball player you should be able to play everywhere but when you get older you do find a position to suit you better - so you work at that position."

New Zealand are the world netball champions with England ranked fourth.

More coverage is given to the sport abroad but this week the England v South Africa international in Manchester was featured on Channel 4.