July Organisation of the Month

Last month, North Dragons Netball Club, based in Wrexham, hosted their Summer Netball Festival in North Wales on the 8th and 9th of June. Across the weekend, 162 teams took to court to compete in their respective age groups. These two days provided a great opportunity for the local community and beyond to get involved and have fun. For their fantastic efforts, we are awarding them our Organisation of the Month for July.

North Dragons Netball Club frequently travels to England to compete or play at ‘festivals’. This year, they decided to put their club on the map in Wales by hosting one themselves, allowing local Welsh clubs that are unable to travel far to compete. While publicising the summer festival, they received an abundance of entries from enthusiastic netball players.

The event featured both established and non-established teams (new to the Junior setup) from across North West Wales, North East Wales, and across the border in North West England. This allowed Welsh clubs to play against new opponents. All umpires were from the local region, making it an excellent opportunity for them to gain experience umpiring tournament-style competition right on their doorstep.

On Saturday, they had 10 U8 teams, 20 U9 teams, 12 U10 teams, and 23 U11 teams; on Sunday, they had 25 U12 teams, 22 U13 teams, 21 U14 teams, 21 U15 teams, and 8 U16 teams. The festival’s popularity is unquestionable, and it’s amazing to see so many netballers of all ages participate.

Due to the large popularity of the event, there were a lot of factors for the team to consider. Many people are needed to run such an incredible, large-scale festival, but luckily, parents and family members of those competing volunteered to be of help. North Dragons volunteers, parking attendants, coaches, umpires, vendors, companies, parents and supporters all played a huge role in its success, creating a fantastic atmosphere for these young avid netballers. They were also joined by many companies and sponsors, such as Exile Sportswear, PicSide, The Netball Psych and more!

Following the festival, North Dragons Netball Club donated £412 to Crohn’s & Colitis UK from their Summer Festival proceeds, which is not the first time they have supported a cause important to their hearts. This donation was inspired by the Chair of this club’s daughter (who is one of the club’s young players) and niece, both of whom experience Crohn’s disease. The club often refers to itself as a ‘netball family,’ and this type of support demonstrates why.

North Dragons Netball Club would like to thank everyone who helped make this such a memorable weekend. We second this and thank the club for sharing their story with us. Best wishes for your future festivals, which we hope will continue to be popular and give excellent competition opportunities in your community.

At the halfway point of every month, Wales Netball will announce its Organisation of the Month. An article will be displayed on our website and a post will be shared across all our social media channels.

If you would like to nominate an organisation involved in the Netball community, complete the nomination form using this link: https://forms.gle/9RxwRWndbCRX4fgCA