Organisation of the Month

North Powys County Netball Association has been in operation since Lisa Trigg set it up over 12 years ago and has successfully managed with limited resources and facilities in their area, returning year after year with great teams for the Wales Netball Inter County Championship. Unfortunately, last year was one of their most difficult years yet for a variety of reasons, but their passion and excitement for Netball persisted, earning them our Organisation of the Month.

North Powys County Netball Association had an incredibly tough year in 2023 after losing the strongest link in its chain, Jackie Lowrie. Jackie arrived to the area from Bristol in 2013, and she quickly became engaged with the local netball teams. Fortunately, Jackie was a Level 2 qualified coach who jumped at the chance to coach the U16 and U18 County Netball teams.

Three years after her move to Powys, in 2016, Jackie was diagnosed with Cancer. She fought hard and won her battle initially, but unfortunately in 2021, the Cancer came back. Throughout her time receiving treatment, Jackie never missed a training session, fundraising event, or County meeting. Two years later in April of 2023, Jackie sadly lost her fight to Cancer and passed away, following one of Powys’ most successful results in the Inter Area Tournament that year – with the U18’s securing the most points they had won since 2015.

Jackie invited Mary Bailey to help her with coaching at County level in 2019. Mary Bailey and Cody Gethin (another current North Powys County coach) had trained under Jackie during their U16 and U18 County and Performance days, and they both felt compelled to give back. Jackie was an excellent role model for them both, and coaching their County provided the ideal opportunity to repay all of Jackie’s efforts in developing them as athletes.

   “She (Jackie) was such an advocate for encouraging anybody, any age, any ability, to play netball. Her coaching style was great, all players knew their boundaries and limits. She gave constructive advice for both players and for us as assistant coaches.”

– Cody Gethin.

Mary and Cody are determined to make sure Jackie’s legacy stays alive through North Powys Netball, knowing first-hand just how much it meant to her. The county now has 4 coaches with Level 1 Coaching awards, and Mary is now on her way to completing her Level 2 Coaching Award. This is something that has been made possible due to the fundraising efforts of Jackie during her time with them.

The North Powys County Association continue to work extremely hard every year, following in the precedent Jackie left behind, to fundraise for their teams. Trudy Gethin (Team Manager) and Jackie underwent extensive fundraising efforts since 2015 to get to a place they can continue to accommodate players today. All players, past and present are extremely grateful for this and the effects it has had in facilitating their play.

“We always enter this Tournament on the back foot as our players have limited clubs in the area to attend and unfortunately the facilities limit us. We are determined to show that we can achieve what we want to, as long as we work hard for it.”

– Mary Bailey

A big thank you to all of those working hard at North Powys County Association to keep Netball running and providing opportunities to develop young players in a tough situation. Your passion and dedication have shone through to us at Wales Netball. We wish you all the best in the future on your mission of making Jackie proud.

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