Essex Met trio win prestigious England Netball awards

The programme recognises and celebrates volunteers who support the delivery of community netball and the trio received trophies from London Pulse player Ellie Rattu at their AGM last week.

Joan Bovell was named coach of the year for adults, while Jane Kelloe received the community official of the year prize and Sharon Smith took the unsung hero of the year award.

And there could yet be more to celebrate as regional winners go on to national finals in October.

Bovell has dedicated her life to netball and continues to since starting Woodford Warriors, where she is involved in every aspect of the club, knows every player’s name and encourages players of any ability to join.

She encourages players throughout every session, which are based on match performance, and asks players what they want to work on too, using different sports to help develop their netball skills. Every session is different as she promotes an environment where a drill can be stopped at any point to ask questions and better understand roles.

Bovell’s creativity, compassion and dedication to her club over the last 10 years has seen them grow from one senior and junior team, to five senior and nine junior teams and members are helped to achieve coaching and umpiring qualifications, which has led to many seniors – who started at the club as juniors – now helping to coach younger teams.

Kelloe was described as ‘phenomenal’ in her nomination, as someone who is outstanding at everything relating to netball when it comes to officiating and governance.

With a cheerful attitude, calm presence and can-do approach in all she does, Kelloe has been a rock of stability within the EMNA, the London & South East Regional Management Board and more widely within England Netball and Netball Europe.

She has extensive knowledge of officiating and a keen eye for detail, with the ability to impart knowledge and bring the netball officiating community together for the greater good.

Having dedicated a significant proportion of her life to netball, she has had a positive influence on those who come into contact with her and holds multi-faceted roles – umpire, mentor, assessor, TSG member – with a commitment to learning.

An inspirational leader in officiating, mentoring and assessing, she has created an environment in which aspiring netball officials can thrive, giving people the space, support and encouragement to aim high.

Kelloe’s energy and commitment make her a role model for hard work and self-motivation as she approaches her netball-related activities with a leadership style based on collaboration, trust, flexibility and humour.

Smith, meanwhile, is club director of Leyton Netball Club, which has seven coaches, six performance and development teams and two junior teams.

A clear communicator, she manages all venue bookings, ensuring players are in attendance at training sessions, and at a club with over 80 members, was described as ‘team manager, club director, agony aunt, car sharer, maker of packed lunches – anything you need to make happen in the club, Sharon will do it for you’.

Smith is a keen supporter of women’s sport, genuinely cares about players off court and regularly promotes their businesses and engagement opportunities.

One player started a candle making business which Smith got the club to support, while another member was diagnosed with breast cancer, with awareness of the disease and a netball tournament subsequently organised to raise money.

When coaches want to complete their qualification, she helps organise their recorded session as part of co-ordinating everything within the club.

“She is one in a million and because her role is largely behind the scenes, no one really gets to put her front and centre and see all the things she does and does very well,” said a club statement.

“The club is ultimately successful due to her vision and commitment to making it happen for the ladies and supporters.”