Netball Trials

Our club

The Loughborough Students Netball Club (LSNC) is one of the 59 Athletic Union sporting clubs based on campus. LSNC is made up of five teams that compete weekly from October – March in the British Universities and Colleges Sporting (BUCS) competition on a Wednesday afternoon. This year, due to Covid-19 the BUCS competition will commence at the end of January. 

LSNC is managed by a student committee, made up of fellow club members. The committee has responsibility for communicating key messages from the Athletic Union, ordering kit, allocating umpires and supporting general club operations. 

There is an annual membership to buy for all successful trialists in order to be a part of an AU Club. All successful athletes will be expected to purchase the membership within a few days of the announcement of successful trialists. This is to ensure that you are registered within the system to attend compulsory training sessions.

Weekly training

Each BUCS squad will have a designated training night on either Monday or Tuesday evening ahead of their game on a Wednesday afternoon. An on-court conditioning session will also be scheduled for one weekday morning/week and all club members are required to attend as part of their commitment to the club. Club members are encouraged to utilise one of the fitness facilities on campus to maintain their fitness during the season. All training sessions will be scheduled at a time outside of the academic timetable so that students can balance both sporting and academics commitments during the week.

Trials

Each year entry into LSNC is very competitive and team selection is conducted via a trials process. The club can host up to 60 members. All students wishing to be considered for a place in the club are required to register online and all students, including club returners, must undergo the trials process to earn a place within the club. We would encourage that students who have had franchise pathway experience, regular club competition or national schools experience in recent years to consider registering for trials.

This year due to Covid implications, we will be hosting trials at an outdoor venue off campus. This is to ensure extra precaution at trials due to the volume of athletes that we need to see and assess. We will be adhering to England Netball's modified rules so please ensure that you have familiarised yourself with the latest information and feel confident that you understand how to implement the modified rules during match play. 

DATE: Saturday 24th October, 2020

VENUE: Loughborough Schools Foundation, Loughborough

Step 1: Latest info and personal risk assessment

Please familiarise yourself with the latest information from England Netball and complete the Personal Risk Assessment via the link above. 

Step 2: Register for trials

Online registration is now closed for 2020-2021 season

Please ensure that the information you provide about prefered positions is correct. There is a lot of work done behind the scenes to ensure a positional split across all trial bubbles. Any last minute changes could prove to be problematic. Registration will close Wednesday 21st October at 5pm. 

Step 3: Confirmation email

You will receive a confirmation email from the club's committee after the closing date of Wednesday 21st October. This will detail when and where you are to report to on the day of trials. 

Step 4: Loughborough Sport App

On the day of trials, you must sign into the trials booking via the Loughborough Sport App. If you do not have an account set up yet then please do this before the day of trials. Anyone who has not signed into the app on the day of trials will not be permitted into the trial venue. The purpose of the app is for track and trace so it is vital for the safety of yourself and others that all trialists have signed in. 

FAQs

If I am self-isolating due to Covid-19 or in a bubble that is required to self-isolate due to exposure to someone with Covid-19 and I can't make the trial on the 24th October, will there be an opportunity for me to trial at a later date? 

Yes. We will host a late trial around the week commencing the 9th November for anyone who can not attend the main trial on the 24th October. After this date, the full club's membership list for the 2020-2021 season will be named. 

All athletes who require a late trial must be registered using the online form BEFORE the closure date. Only then will athletes be considered for a late trial. You must inform the committee as soon as you have been told to self-isolate so that they can amend paperwork behind the scenes.

What is the format of trials? Will there be match play?

We will be putting trialists into a group that you will then rotate within the group for games to keep athletes separated as much as possible. Trials will be mostly made up of match play so that our selectors can assess your positional understanding and your technical and tactical execution on court. At this current time, outdoor activity is exempt from the rule of 6 however if this were to change then we would look to structure trials will some skill tasks and small sided games.

I'm a bit concerned about being in a large group with the risk of Covid-19

We have access to six outdoor courts and will be ensuring that athletes remain socially distanced at all times when you are not part-taking in on court activity. Closer to the time, we will share with all trialists a copy of our Risk Assessment and Operating Procedures that will detail how to navigate the venue and behaviours that we expect to see in order to minimize risk. On top of that, equipment will only be shared within your designated group and will be regularly cleaned. All athletes will have their own bib for the day that is not to be shared with another trialist. We will be stopping activity regularly to allow for athletes to hand sanitize. 

Contact us

If you need to contact the committee for any reason or require clarity about the trials process, please contact our Club Chairs; Laura Bailey and Megan Betteridge at laura.bailey.lb12@gmail.com