Netball Academy

The Itchen Sixth Form College Netball Academy is open access that caters for all abilities, from national league players through to those who have only had school experience.

The Netball Academy consists of two teams that both play in the Hampshire and British Colleges' Leagues and also compete in many tournaments throughout the year including: U19 English Schools, Hampshire Invitational and British Colleges Regional tournaments. 

The first team is very successful, consistently reaching either the semi-finals or finals in all of these competitions.  In the last three years, the Netball Academy has had athletes who have been selected into the British Colleges national squad. These players have then trained with some of the best college netballers from all over the UK, competed against super league teams with international players and travelled the British Isles.  The Netball Academy also runs a development squad and these players also have opportunities to compete in local tournaments as well as friendly matches to raise their skill level. 

Students who join the Netball Academy will train and/or compete at least three times a week with AENA Level 2 qualified coaches. These sessions include netball-specific fitness and team training, where skill level is improved via drills. High performing netballers will have access to strength and conditioning training, as well as on-site physiotherapy.

All fixtures take place on a Wednesday afternoon where our players travel all over Hampshire to play matches. Throughout their time at the academy, students may also have opportunities to gain qualifications in both coaching and umpiring. 

See us in action

Student success

Hollie Williams

Hollie studied A Level English Language, Geography and Sport & PE here at Itchen, alongside playing on the netball team as part of the Netball Academy. She was part of the team that won the Hampshire Versatility League and were Hampshire League Runners Up. She's also played in the National Performance League. Hollie now studies at Liverpool John Moores University. 

Key personnel

Shirley Eastwood - Head Coach

Shirley is a Level 2 qualified head netball coach at Itchen Sixth Form College who has been coaching locally for twenty years to a variety of age groups, from U12s through to senior level, for both Weston Park Blades and Dreams Netball Club. More recently, Shirley has been committed to coaching the Dreams regional senior teams, although she still enjoys coaching the younger members of the club when she has time available.

Shirley has more than thirty years playing experience behind her with local teams such as Weston Park Blades, Dreams and Swan. Having joined Weston Park Blades when she was 18 years of age, she remained with the club playing National Premier League in her prime and then moved to Swan and Dreams Netball Club where she continued to play regional netball before retiring in 2013. Shirley has been at Itchen since 2004 and continues to enjoy coaching students of all abilities, driven by her passion of the game.