Designed with youth voice at its heart, Wales Netball’s Blitz Netball Activator is ensuring that netball can be accessed by all.
In 2024, Wales Netball worked together with StreetGames to develop the Blitz Netball Activator. The organisation had recognised that their current offer was not reaching ‘non-traditional’ netball audiences and wanted to change this. Led by Head of Participation Keira Edwards, they set out to create a new product that was diverse and accessible to those living in poverty – ensuring that netball can be a sport accessed by all, leaving no one behind. The result is a netball-based entry level coaching workshop that aims to reach new audiences and train up a whole new cohort of coaches, volunteers and leaders to deliver netball-based activities in community settings.
Keira was really passionate about making sure that the new workshop was designed by young people from low-income, underserved communities, as this was primarily the target audience for the new offer. With Keira a netball player and volunteer herself, she recognised that she was already biased favourably towards the sport – and that the views, opinions and experiences of others who were not familiar with or passionate about netball would be crucial to the project’s success.
In partnership with StreetGames, Keira and others within Wales Netball, including Wales International player Phillipa Yarrington, went on an 8-month journey to co-create the new Blitz Netball Activator workshop and supporting resources – engaging around 50 young people aged between 12 and 25 from three community organisations in Wrexham, Flintshire and Denbighshire to work with them on the project.
The co-creation approach saw the young people taking part in five in-person sessions – both within their own community organisations, and at a central venue for the final testing day. Not all of the group had netball playing or coaching experience, with only 53% having previously played netball within PE lessons and only 20% currently playing netball in a competitive club setting. The young people’s ideas were captured using a range of creative methods including games, flipchart tasks, videos and online surveys. Each young person involved received kit and equipment and were part of naming the end product, creating a sense of collective identity and achievement.
The project had a significant impact on the young people involved, with 100% of them reporting the development of new skills. The Blitz Netball Activator was successfully launched, with more than 20 tutors to date trained to deliver the workshop across England and Wales.
This innovative approach by Wales Netball, with the inclusion of young people’s voices at its heart, has set a high standard for other National Governing Bodies to follow.
Find out more about the StreetGames Sport for Development Awards 2024.
