FAQ’s

Our Elite Academy classes are usually made up of athletes playing a good level of club netball, for example, counties and franchise netball accommodating U12’s, U13’s, U15’s and Seniors. Players can obtain a place through a trial and selection process; trials take place on mass, normally in August, depending on the age group and class availability we will often look at players throughout the season too.

Our Minis Classes start getting girls into netball as young as five years of age. Weekly training involves movement fundamentals; skills, drills, gameplay and as players move up the age groups, we focus on these areas in more depth.

We run two types of netball camps, Junior Camp and Training Days, to facilitate different levels of experience. Junior Camp is for young athletes aged between 5 and 11 years of age who are new to the game or want to do more fun games and challenges with their friends. Children learn netball through fun games that promote learning around fundamentals and further their understanding of the skills required for netball. Passing, catching, attack, defence, shooting and movement skills are all included and we play games and have fun!

Training Days are for netball players who play school or club netball and want to come away from each day learning something new and feeling challenged with what they are being asked to do and achieve. Days are normally focused on a theme such as attacking, defence, positional and team. Often performance camps will include netball fitness and performance education too.

Our Residental Netball Camps are a great opportunity for players aged between 10 and 17 years to have a few days away to be totally absorbed in a netball environment with other players from all over the country and sometimes the world. Eat, drink and sleep netball! Some of the best players and coaches in the game join us and we deliver a high-performance experience in performance analysis, nutrition, well-being, on-court delivery, match play and fitness. You can read more about our coaches here.

No. However, we ask that players play school, club or county level netball.

All netball equipment is provided so you only need a water bottle, your kit and plenty of enthusiasm.

Similar to our classes, all equipment is provided. You will need to bring your own lunch and drinks as these are not provided. Sometimes are camps can be held outside so please bring suitable clothing for the conditions, with a change of clothing always recommended.

Our Netball Camps sometimes require a yoga mat, you will always be told in advance.

If you don’t have any official Elite kit then we just ask that you wear plan activewear and trainers and avoid wearing any school or club-affiliated kit.

Academy trials take place every August in time for the start of classes and the new school year. This will be advertised in the summer and you will be contacted soon after the trial to be informed whether you have been successful or not. We will accept late trialists during the year depending on age and class required – our classes are usually full but it’s always worth trying!

Yes. UKCC Level 2 qualified coaches are all first aid trained and each class has at least one Level 2 qualified coach at all times. All Elite Netball Academy coaches are DBS checked too.

We strictly follow Covid-19 guidance set out by England Netball in all of our classes, camps and events to keep our coaches, athletes and parents safe. You can read more in the Covid-19 section on our website.

All of our classes and camps are non-refundable once payment is received. Upon sign-up, information about the cancellation notice period will be sent out. If a netball camp is cancelled by Elite due to unforeseen circumstances a full refund will be provided.

We have recently changed our payment structure for classes to a monthly Direct Debit system of 11 months of payments. Injuries are always difficult and can often leave an athlete feeling left out and disengaged with the experience others are receiving with the worry of falling behind. At Elite Netball Academy we are keen to continue to work with the athlete throughout their return to play by still giving them the opportunity to learn, progress and focus on things that can be done while they are injured.

We would really like the parent to let us know at the earliest opportunity regarding an athlete’s injury and as much detail as possible so we can plan their sessions to focus within their normal class time.

Yes, if the coaches feel a child is ready to move up an age group at Minis or up a class from Junior Academy to High-Performance class then they will make recommendations in our regular team meetings. The parent will be informed by email.

If your child has been successful at a franchise trial, we encourage that they discontinue Elite Netball Academy participation due to loading, however, every athlete is different and in some circumstances, it may be in the athlete’s best interest to continue with us. We advise the individual to speak to us and the franchise if they wish to continue with Elite Netball Academy. We have a high number of athlete’s over a 12-month period going from our training programme to pathway netball at Leeds Rhinos, Loughborough Lightning and Manchester Thunder. We are very proud of this reputation we have started to make for ourselves which is a breeding ground for pathway netball activity.

Elite Netball Academy’s Performance Pillars are technical, tactical, physical and psychological. These pillars provide a great way to structure the athletes’ learning and prepare them for pathway netball. Most performance models in sport will use these pillars for athlete performance preparation.

Occasionally, however, access to match play isn’t an issue for young players but access to more quality netball training outside of team preparation is.

U13 triallists can be from 10 years old. For U13s we typically accept players for trials that are in years 7 & 8. However, if there is an exceptional player in year 6 then we would be happy to see them at trials.