October Organisation of the Month

This October our ‘Organisation of the Month’ goes to Deeside Netball, for their outstanding contribution to Netball in the North-East for over 44 years!

Deeside Netball Club, founded in 1979, is today one of the oldest and largest running netball clubs in North-East Wales. They house circa. 300 women and girls divided into 24 teams, led by 27 coaches. At least 30 Deeside players have gone on to represent Wales across the age-grades, including two Welsh Feathers Captains – Ursula (Billy) Bowers and Bev Lovatt! They hope that past members successes will motivate their younger players to pursue netball as a lifelong sport or hobby.

Positioned on the Wales-England border, they strive to be a high-profile club. Deeside Netball Club first crossed the border in the 1990’s, entering the Northern League which later changed to the Northern Premier League to accommodate more teams. They continued in this Premier Division until 2019, when Covid-19 struck, and due to differing Covid Regulations between England and Wales, they were unable to train and compete as well as their opponents. Demoted to the Championship League in 2021 as a result, Deeside were passionate about regaining their rightful place in the Premier
Division.

Two years later in 2023, after a very hard-fought season in which players worked exceptionally hard to attain strong results, they secured the wins required for promotion back into the Premier League. In this new season, with some new players,
they have achieved four wins from four games, an incredible result so far! They relish the prospect of more exciting games this season, getting to compete at an excellent level of netball.

Their achievements don’t stop there either. Their top adult teams play in North East Wales National League 1st Division netball – with their first team never out of the top three position in any local leagues! Their juniors, head coached by Merle Hamilton, and ex-Wales National Coach, have held the titles of U12, U14 and U17 Wales Netball National Club Champions, which they are passionate to contest for this year. Deeside players are also well represented in Flintshire County junior teams, U21 and open squads, Regional Academy, National Academy, and Wales National League.

Alongside their netballers, Deeside have a very strong and hard-working committee, which is dedicated to helping their members achieve excellence through playing, coaching, or umpiring. We wish all participants of Deeside Netball Club good luck for the future, and we hope your hard work continues to pay off!

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