Skills for the Season: Netballers Get Ahead of the Game!

The dedicated sportswomen of Leighton Park were keen to get back in the game on Thursday 4^th January as the week before the start of term they came together for a pre-season Netball Training Session at the University of Reading.

Organised by Head of Girls’ Games, Zoe Macpherson, and Netball Coach, Alice Ledson, the group were absolutely delighted to be put through their paces by special guests England Netball player, Ellie Rattu and strength and conditioning / injury prevention specialist from Bournemouth-based trainers Good Things Coming (GTC), Jack Phillips. Jack coaches the Weston Park Blades Netball Club in Winchester and has undertaken numerous training sessions in schools supporting Netball strength and conditioning.

23-year old England Netball star, Ellie Rattu, represented England A for the first time in 2021 during the Vitality Roses Reunited Series having been chosen for U17, U19 and U21 squads and selected as vice-captain of an U19 touring team to Australia and New Zealand on her way to the top. Ellie’s talents and teamwork secured  her first Vitality Roses senior cap against Uganda in the October 2022 Vitality Netball International Series after making her Netball Super League debut for London Pulse in 2021; she is clearly one to watch! Ellie is currently signed to Saracens Mavericks ahead of the 2024 campaign and was enthusiastic about preparing the LP girls for their own upcoming season, sharing her top tips for success.

The 2024 Netball season is a critical one for our girls as they move from pursuing Netball in co-curricular activities in the Autumn Term to the PE curriculum focus replacing Hockey with Netball as the main team sport in Girls’ Games for the coming months.

On Thursday Zoe and Alice opened the session with an inspirational team talk setting expectations and aspirations for the coming season, throughout which there will be plenty of friendly and competitive league matches for both Junior and Senior teams. Following Jack’s Strength and Conditioning session and time dedicated to raising awareness of injury prevention the main coaching session undertaken by Ellie Rattu began. The day concluded with a Q&A from the girls enabling them to broaden their understanding and exhibit their curiosity about the Netball journey that Ellie and Jack have undertaken.

Jemima (Year 11) commented “I think the netball was very inspiring and is a good head start for playing in the term ahead. Ellie was great and she shared lots of information about how many times a week she trains and her meal plan and things like that.” Harriet (Upper Sixth) added “Jack had a very different approach to the training. He told us all about the physics behind the exercises and how our the movements were working our bodies. It was really interesting and something that I haven’t experienced before.”