Netball star raises game of youngsters

CHELSEA Pitman, England and Australia netball star joins the netball camp at Oldham Academy North

YOUNG netball players were put through their paces when England netballer and Australian-born star Chelsea Pitman stopped by for a training session last week.

Chelsea, who represented Australia when they were crowned world champions in 2011, before permanently defecting to England earlier this year, delivered a challenging session at Oldham Academy North last week.

The netball camp, which opened its doors for the first time this summer has given more than 200 young fans the chance to get involved and develop their netball skills.

Tom Nokes, who organised the camp alongside Rachel Wilson, Kelsey Saville and Tasha Squire, said: "Chelsea delivered a fun, yet challenging, session with our young enthusiasts at a camp which was thoroughly enjoyed by all participants.

"Her Aussie style and enthusiasm for the sport really engaged the children.

"The session, which was added onto our camp as an extra day, ended an incredibly successful two weeks of netball camp.

"We have had well over 200 participants taking part this summer, which is fantastic to see. "Although the camp was not exclusively for girls, it has been great to see so many engaged in sport and keeping active over the summer."

He added that the team had received positive feedback from parents praising the camp as a fun and healthy activity for them to take part in during the school summer holidays.

Tom continued: "It is clear that netball is becoming more popular in Oldham and we are pleased to have been able to provide the opportunity that hopefully has encouraged more to take up the sport.

"We hope that the visit from Chelsea has inspired the youngsters and we look forward to running more events like this in the near future."