Bradford College nets grant for new netball court

Bradford College welcomes officials from England Netball, Yorkshire Netball and Bradford Council to the official reopening of the sports hall at their Trinity Green site following a major refurbishment.

The floor of the sports hall was resurfaced with the help of a grant from England Netball.

The £10,240 award from netball’s national governing body covered half the cost of the improvement work with the college paying the remainder of the bill.

England Netball agreed to share the cost with the college because the Trinity Green site is a hotbed of netball action in the area with the Yorkshire Netball, West Yorkshire County Netball Academy and Shipley Netball all regular users of the facilities.

Charlotte Malyon, Facilities and Capital Investment Manager at England Netball said: “West Yorkshire is one of our heartlands for netball and we really wanted to support the development of a high quality facility in partnership with a college that shares our vision.”

Pam Hoyle, chair of Yorkshire Netball, said: “Bradford College has always been very supportive to netball and so I am glad that support has been recognised by the governing body and delighted that we now have this improved facility.”

David Harwood, the Principal of Bradford College, said: “Netball is a very important part of the sports curriculum at the college and we have strong links locally with Shipley Netball, West Yorkshire Netball, Yorkshire County Netball and Trinity Green is a player development centre for the sport.

“Getting this new first-class surface will allow our students and local clubs to continue participating in netball, and as the floor is sprung it will also be safer and hopefully there will be fewer injuries.

“Bradford College is very grateful to England Netball and Sport England for the grant they gave to enable us to put a new floor into the hall.”

The Lord Mayor of Bradford, Councillor Geoff Reid, and Lady Mayoress, Mrs Chris Reid, were in attendance to see Mr Harwood cut the ribbon and unveil a new plaque outside the courts.

Also present were Jenny Skelton of Yorkshire Netball, Helena Russo, West Yorkshire Netball Development Officer for Netball England and Lucy Archer, Netball England’s Yorkshire and Humber regional Manager. 

Bradford College offers range of sport courses from post GCSE up to degree level covering a variety of areas such as fitness instruction, football studies and sports coaching.

PHOTO: Left to right, Helena Russo West Yorkshire Netball Development Officer for Netball England, David Harwood of Bradford College, Lady Mayoress Mrs Chris Reid, Lord Mayor of Bradford, Cllr Geoff Reid and Lucy Archer, Yorkshire and Humber regional Manager for England Netball