Guernsey Netball’s Future Panthers programme, which provides a pathway from taster sessions in school through to the established leagues, has proved such a success that there is a waiting list for places.
The programme’s future has been secured after Titan Wealth agreed a three-year extension to its sponsorship of both Future Panthers and Coach the Coaches, which covers the cost of training new coaches.
“Three years ago, Guernsey Netball was at an exciting time in its long island history. We had a new board who were committed to rebuilding the sport and ensuring there was a structure from our youngest players through to leagues and the Guernsey teams and in increasing our pool of coaches, umpires and administrators. Ravenscroft, as it was then, came on board as our first sponsor and understood the vision we had. While there is no doubt that we are delivering on our plans, there is still a lot to do and so I am delighted that the company, under its new Titan Wealth brand, is continuing its support of both Future Panthers and Coach the Coaches,” said Guernsey Netball head coach Sally Carns.
“As the largest female sport on the island, the GNA receives no funding from our governing body and therefore all our programmes are self-funded or supported by our partners. Every contribution directly impacts the future of netball in Guernsey and we want to thank the Titan Wealth team for continuing to believe in the opportunities we are offering to young netballers.”
Future Panthers is open to players from year 2 to year 6 and more than 100 players attend the sessions on a Saturday morning. They are coached by older players and those who have completed their training through the Coach the Coaches programme.
“Coaches are in some ways more important than players as without them we couldn’t run any of the programmes we do. We have grown the number of coaches we have and now with the additional support from Titan Wealth, we can continue to train more coaches and support more teams,” said Ms Carns.
Mark Bousfield, managing director of Titan Wealth, said that the company continued to be passionate about grassroots sport and was delighted to be able to extend its sponsorship of Guernsey Netball. He explained: “‘Over the last 20 years, we have supported junior programmes for football, hockey, rugby, table tennis and netball as we know the many benefits that sport brings to young people. We are so fortunate in Guernsey to have hundreds of volunteers supporting grassroots sport to ensure as many youngsters as possible can take part but sports also need financial support. Guernsey Netball has strong foundations and you can see from the numbers of players taking part that there is a bright future ahead and Titan Wealth is delighted we can play our part.”
