June 12, 2024
NET ACADEMY ATHLETE SUCCESS
How they started and where they are now!
The NET Academy has been the start of many success stories for our athletes who have gone on to achieve amazing things. We pride ourselves on our ability to develop players in the game and in turn, allow them to be successful within their local county and franchise trials.
The 2022-2023 season saw 13 of our 20 athletes graduate from the Academy programme and develop into Mavericks, London Pulse, Hertfordshire County and/or Essex County training pathways.
As the programme, locations and coaches develop we cannot wait to see what else our athletes progress to achieve. But here are just some of the success stories so far.
CLEMMIE FELLS
Club: Crosskeys Netball Club
Position: GD/C
NET Academy Season: 22/23 and 23/24
Success: Essex Met U15, London Pulse U15, U14 and U16 National Squad Captain
Clemmie has improved so much since joining the academy, not only in her individual skills, but also in her tactical understanding of the game and ability to analyse and better her own performance. After her first year of the Academy, she was successful and London Pulse U15 Hub Trials and was offered a place within the U15 Essex Met County Programme. She took it all under her wing and retained her space at the Academy for another year of training and development alongside her county, franchise and club training.
“Absolutely love it !! I’m always very excited to go to my NET session. Jenni is an amazing coach she makes hard work fun! I’ve learnt a lot very useful things from my sessions over the weeks and I can tell it shows in my gameplay. I would defiantly recommend NET training sessions to people who want to take there game to the next level”
ELLA KINGSTON
Club: Hatfield Netball Club
Position: GS/GK
NET Academy Season: 22/23
Success: Mavericks Futures Programme, U14 and 16 National Squad, Hertfordshire County League (Senior Squad)
Ella came to the Academy wanting to progress at her club, make the A team and become the best player that she could be. From the beginning her determination and grit was clear and we knew we had someone that was willing to do whatever it takes. We are so proud of the improvement Ella made at the Academy allowing her to move on within a competitive club environment and achieve a place in franchise too.
“I loved the Net Academy; I looked forward to going every week because as well as learning a lot and developing our skills we always had fun. I know I improved so much over the programme, and I am really proud of how much I developed my netball in both attack and defence during the course. It was always hard work, but we always came away feeling like we had achieved a lot during the sessions.”
SOPHIA PETTENGELL
Club: Wodson Netball Club
Position: GA/WA
NET Academy Season: 22/23
Success: Herts County U13, London Pulse Hub, U14 Regional
Sofia joined the U12 Academy wanting to be successful in her first experience of franchise and county trials as she moved into Secondary School. Sofia excelled in the U12 development academy which lead to her playing up within the U16 Performance session. Since graduating the academy she has continued to develop within her club squad and been successful in securing places in both county and franchise pathways.
“Sophia really enjoyed her season at Net Academy and she felt it prepared her well for trials/next season.
She would highly recommend to ours esp for those looking for a fun and affective Academy.”
MEGAN BAXTER
Club: Hatfield Netball Club
Position: GS/GK
NET Academy Season: 23/24
Success: Hatfield Netball Club Performance Squad
Megan joined the NET ACADEMY as a relatively new player to the game wanting to secure her knowledge and improve her standard to play at a more competitive level. She started as a shy player lacking confidence in her own abilities and has used the pathway to build not only on her confidence and knowledge of the game but to develop into a stronger, faster player. As a result she was successful at club trials to secure her place in a more competitive side for next season.
“I started NET Academy in Ware with Jenni and I wasn’t quite sure whether I’d like it when I first went but within a few minutes Jenni made us all feel comfortable and started teaching us things in netball we had never really concentrated on before. I did eight weeks in Ware with Jenni before moving to the Academy she set up in Berkhamsted where we had two fantastic coaches, Lou and Kelsey. I learnt so much throughout the 16 week course, really loved going and would recommend to everyone who wants to improve both their tactical and technical skills in more depth. I feel I was very lucky as I had 3 great coaches.”
