February Volunteer of the Month

Rachel Lewis is Wales Netballs’ well-deserved recipient of our Volunteer of the Month for February, due to her incredible efforts to revive and reenergise her local club!

Before Rachel joined Cynon Valley Netball Club last season, the club was struggling to continue. It was due a revamp and unfortunately, was at a precarious stage. Since Rachel joined as a parent volunteer (with her daughter on the U12’s team), she has been an excellent asset to the team, enthusiastically stepping up to the plate and taking on numerous responsibilities behind the scenes, including attending meetings, arranging games, and umpiring for each age group. She makes the club run smoothly and ensures everything is done correctly and on time – something other coaches are
greatly appreciative of.

Rachel has also undertaken the coaching of Cynon Valleys U11’s and U12’s players. She has a no-nonsense approach when coaching and provides developmental feedback to all the young girls. Rachel’s holistic approach to the club can be viewed through her encouragement of older players to apply for coaching and umpiring courses, with the aim that they will then feedback into the club in these roles. More recently, Rachel has given up her time to set up a netball camp that she will be running in the half-term.

Not just for club members to attend, but also non-members, in an attempt to fundraise for the club. Cynon Valley Back to Netball is also run by Rachel, for adults who want to get back into the sport.

It is Rachel’s relentless effort in securing grants and funding for Cynon Valley which has now made her joint club Treasurer, enabling the club to grow. Her efforts have seen numerous grants come in over the past year, including those from Sport RCT, Millenium Stadium Grants, Warburtons Grants, Tesco Community Grants and Pen Y Cymoedd Community Fund. The money secured through these funds have allowed the club to buy new equipment it much desperately needed. Additionally, it has funded places on umpiring courses to upskill their workforce and players and buy a whole new kit for all teams from the U11s, right through to their U16s!

Through Rachels commitment to the club and hard work moving it forward, she has truly turned the club around. This has left her a well-respected and truly valued member of Cynon Valley Netball Club.

It will continue to thrive so long as she is on board. Thank you Rachel, from us all at Cynon. You deserve this recognition for all your time and effort.

Rachel Evans and Tracy Harris

It is clear that the work you have put in means a huge amount to everyone Cynon Valley Netball Club, Rachel. A big thank you from us at Wales Netball, for stepping up and ensuring these players can continue their passion of playing netball for years to come!

Wales Netball’s Volunteers of the Month will be announced at the beginning of every month, with an article going on our website and posts going out across all social media channels.

If you would like to nominate your coach, an umpire, or someone who helps your netball club and the wider community, complete the nomination form using this link – https://forms.gle/fREqFRkPFyHnoPRn6