How does regional netball talent gain national recognition? Read on…….

Where are tomorrow’s netball stars developed in North Wales?

One such centre is the Bangor Regional Academy, led by coach Simone Gould, assistant-coach Cara Roberts and Under-15 assistant-coach Lily Doodson.

There are 8 Regional Academies in Wales (north in bold): Bangor University. Bridgend University, Cardiff University, Coleg Cambria, Coleg Gwent, Neath Port Talbot College, University of Trinity St David and University of South Wales, Coleg y Cymoedd.

This is Bangor University Academy’s second year. In its first year the Academy only had one squad of 28 athletes; this year there are 57 girls from year 8 through to under 21 with the Academy hoping to expand further in 2024-2025.

Wales Netball aspires to create a sustainable over-supply of athletes via its Performance Pathway for its National Squads.

The Regional Academy works with local players from a range of clubs who are identified as talented and showing potential to compete at higher levels, offering a bigger pool of talent for the National Academies and National Squads including Development and Welsh Feathers.

The Academy is a step up from Club and County netball, training for 39 Sundays over the year at a performance level.

The Regional Academy Curriculum is skills and values focused with the aim of developing young athletes in line with the Welsh Way; this ensures that coaches can develop athletes who have the necessary skills and attributes to transition smoothly through the Performance Pathway.

Wales Netball Regional Academy Aims:

⦁ To select and develop Regional Academy athletes capable of transitioning into our National Academy programme, and Wales age group Competition Squads
⦁ To retain athletes for the long term – we want athletes to continue to choose to develop their netball in Wales, to do this, we need to ensure our Regional Academies are excellent
⦁ To support each of our Regional Academy athletes to develop as both people and players, who embody ‘Welsh Way’ skills, values, and behaviours
⦁ To ensure that our Regional Academy athletes enjoy the experience of Regional Academy netball. For many of our athletes, this will be their first experience of Wales Netball, and we want it to be a great environment for them

The season concludes with an Academy Tournament held in Cardiff, with all Academies coming together to compete for a place in the finals.

Last year saw the Bangor A team placing 4th overall with wins over Bridgend University, Coleg Cambria, Coleg Gwent and draws against Neath Port Talbot and University of South Wales.

The Bangor B Team placed 2nd, only losing to Coleg Cambria by 1 goal. They travelled to Cardiff the following week to face Coleg Cambria in the final. The girls were outstanding and showcased all Bangor University Academy has to offer pushing and fighting throughout the game narrowly losing out by 5 goals.

From this tournament Efa Dwyfor-Clarke was selected to trial for the Wales U15 National Squad which was a fantastic achievement, particularly as Efa also swims for Wales.

Not only was she selected to trial, but was also then chosen for the U15 Long Squad and subsequently picked to represent Wales and compete in August at the England Netball National Championships playing against teams from English Superleague pathways and Scotland.

Cara Roberts:

“We thoroughly enjoyed our first year with the Bangor Regional Academy in 2022-2023 and it has been incredibly exciting to expand into an additional age group this year.
There is such a huge pool of talent in the North West of Wales, being able to work with them strengthening their netball skills and tactical awareness is a pleasure.
We have a wide range of clubs represented in the Academy so the players are able to build new friendships, in addition to working on their netball. Every player we have gives everything to training and works hard, they are keen to develop their netball skill, engage with all activities and help create a positive and supportive environment.
The players have their sights set on trialling for the National Academies which is fantastic, with some players being selected and being role models to the rest of the girls in the Academy. Myself and Simone are excited to see what the rest of this season brings including the Annual Academy Tournament.“

National Academy

Athletes must be recommended to trial for the National Academies with only the top players in the country being put forward for trials.

October 2023 saw more players than ever being put forward for National Academy Trials by the Regional Academy Coaches with 5 Bangor players being selected for the 2023-2024 season:

U15:
Efa Dwyfor-Clarke (Brynrefail)
Hanna Jones (Brynrefail)
Amalie Jones (Llandudno)

U17:
Lacey Williams (Llandudno)

U19:
Beca Parry (Arfon Ladies)

Wales Netball’s National Academy is the home of our age -grade performance athletes from which we select our Wales Development, U21, U19, U17 & U15 squads for international competition.

Wales Netball aspires to create a sustainable over-supply of athletes via its Performance Pathway for its National Squads, and our National Academy squads are vital in ensuring this success.

National Academy aims:

⦁ We want our National Academy athletes to develop as both people and players, who embody our values, culture, and behaviours – we are developing young role models
⦁ We want our National Academy athletes to enjoy their experience – this is a crucial stage in their athletic and personal development, and a time when they have to manage multiple priorities. We are here to support them navigate the challenged they face, so that they fully immerse themselves in and enjoy their experience in our National Academy

National Academy players come together once a month in Cardiff to train together with athletes from all over the country. Players get opportunities to compete in curtain raiser games before Wales and Cardiff Dragons matches, but additionally work towards being selected for International Competitions within their age group.

Lacey Williams (Llandudno) has recently been selected for the U17 Wales team travelling to Gibraltar in March for the European Championships. The team will compete over 3 days against England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the UAE, and will be looking to place in the top 3.

Simone Gould:

“Lacey plays regularly for Llandudno. She has not only played for her age group teams in both the Junior league and club championships but also their adult teams, competing in the Division 1 North West Wales League.
I saw Lacey playing at Inter-counties in January 2023 and could not believe that she was not already part of the Academy. She was a standout player and someone I knew I needed as part of our squad. This was further strengthened when she was awarded Player of the Tournament.
Lacey works hard in every training session; she is passionate about netball, regularly asking questions, showing that she is keen to learn and determined to challenge herself to develop her skills and understanding.
I am so incredibly proud of her; she has shown incredible determination and resilience over the last 12 months. She had a setback in August 2023 when she unfortunately was not selected into the U15 long squad but didn’t let this stop her. She used this as motivation and was determined to continue improving ready for National Academy trials in October.
We were delighted when she got into the U17 National Academy, particularly as she is only 15. I was overjoyed to hear that Lacey has been selected into a travelling squad of 12 for the European Championships. She will be travelling every weekend to Cardiff between now and then to prepare; we cannot wait to watch her compete and represent Wales with pride with the whole of the North West behind her.“

More information: https://walesnetball.com/national-academy/

European Championships: https://www.europenetball.com/u17-combined-event-2024