Julie Smith writes about the Trust and what we do… and why?
Our history
The Netball Development Trust (NDT) is a charity registered in the UK and based in London. We are a netball coaching programme that is active at the grass roots level in some of the least developed regions of the world. Our aim is to introduce the game of netball to boys and girls who lack access to sports facilities, opportunities and kit and equipment, an NDT UK tour parties visit schools in these regions to deliver a cohesive and comprehensive coaching programme to primary school children with the assistance of local in-country volunteers, teachers, players and older students who join our UK volunteers in regular tours and also ensure the programme’s continuation through the year.
The Trust was founded by Monica Thandi in 2010. A netballer since the age of 12, she plays for Ilford NC in england and has played for other teams at various levels in her career.
Monica first thought of creating NDT during her 2009 visit to Uganda as a volunteer for the Tag Rugby Trust. On meeting local children who played netball during this tour, she was inspired to create something similar for netball, for those primary school children who lack access to sports facilities and equipment in countries such as Uganda and India.
The trust has recently concluded its fifth official tour and second tour to India, during which we visited 4 schools in Bhubaneswar and coached over 550 girls and boys. Our team of 3 coaches from the UK joined 10 Indian volunteers to deliver this programme which also featured a netball tournament – we are presently preparing a tour report on the results of this tour and a short film, produced and directed by our volunteer film maker Mr. Olly North which features the 2012 tour to Uganda.
Our volunteers
Our tour parties consist of volunteers (from the UK and other countries) who pay for their own trip and in-country costs. They take on the responsibility to raise funds for their trip and for us to be able to provide netballs, bibs, whistles, coaching aides, rule books, netball nets and other required essentials to the schools and clubs we work with. We also collect kit and equipment through kit amnesties in the UK, with the kind support of our netballing friends up and down the country.
Volunteers who partake in an NDT tour have a unique opportunity to be part of a cross-cultural experience and contribute to the lives of children, who often have very little, through netball. Without exception, our volunteers tell us that it has been an experience of a lifetime and that they have built life-long friendships and bonds that go far beyond netball.
Our volunteers work closely with children in a coaching capacity, although previous coaching or netball experience is not a pre-requisite to be a volunteer with NDT. We welcome volunteers who can bring different skill sets to the group, so please get in touch if you want to know more, or think you can offer us your support in any way (from buying a wristie, coming on tour, or offering us your millions!).
As one volunteer said “This tour has changed the way I think about coaching and my life in general. It has been a fantastic experience.”
Our tours
We have toured Uganda three times, first in July 2010, when we reached out to 300 children in the district of Mbale, and then in 2011 and 2012. We have also visited India twice in 2011 and 2012. Each of our tours also includes an intensive ‘Train the Trainers’ programme which is a crucial factor in the viability and continuation of the programme in both countries the year around.
The total number of girls and boys that were introduced to netball by the trust in these five tours and on visits to schools in India and Uganda is now over 3,250 and we have a 30 strong group of young leaders that continue the programme the year around in both countries.
A typical NDT tour is two weeks long. The first week is dedicated to coaching and training as many children as we can physically coach! We coach both boys and girls together, most of whom have not had any prior experience of playing netball and are usually about 12-16 years old.
During the week we look for those children who will be strong enough to represent their school, and by Friday we have selected up to 8 teams of 10 players – 5 boys and 5 girls (usually 2 teams from each school) of children to play in the tournament. No NDT tour is complete without a celebration of netball. Tournament day is much anticipated by all participants and is an event not to be missed! Those children not selected to play come along with their friends, banners and drums and cheer (very loudly!) for their school!
The second week is dedicated to a ‘Train the Trainers’ where we work with those who are able to dedicate time in-country to continue the legacy and carry the programme forward – school teachers, sports coaches, secondary school students and netball players. We work with them on their coaching and umpiring skills and the administration of a tournament so that they can deliver the programme year around, once we’ve gone back home. Our first ‘Train the Trainers’ programme was only in November 2011 and we watch with baited breath to see how they continue to coach and umpire in their areas. We will keep in touch with them and let you know of their progress!
Our supporters
NDT is supported by the International Netball Federation (INF), who have given us opportunities to be a part of events such as the World Netball Championships, Asian Netball Championships and World Netball Series – thereby providing us a platform to reach out to netball fans from around the world.
England Netball generously support us through promotional work, offering us their young leaders as volunteers, and offer us space at various events to collect kit and promote our charity.
We receive kit and equipment from Gilbert Netball and Harrods UK.
We also receive generous donations from many clubs, individuals and schools whose contributions and donations have made all the difference to the projects we run.
Our journey so far would not have been possible had we not been supported by the Tag Rugby Trust. They have continued to provide us logistical and moral support and guidance at every step of the way.
We also work with the Goal project run by Naz Foundation in New Delhi, India who are supported by the INF, The Australian Sports Outreach Programme, Standard Chartered Bank and Netball Australia.
Our future
We are currently looking for more contacts and networks in other Asian and African countries. If you know someone who could help us set up similar projects overseas, drop us a line.
We would love to create and build netball academies, firstly in Uganda, to ensure that the young players of today can continue to grow and to play netball, and to give them the opportunity to improve and one day possibly represent their country.
NDT has grown from strength to strength and today, after five successful tours, no fewer than 3250 girls and boys have taken part in the programme and play netball regularly in Uganda and India… We’re very proud of this achievement.
We work with several schools in Uganda and India to deliver netball coaching at the grassroots level – these include:
Mbale, Uganda:
Trust Primary School (2012)
Yoweri Primary School (2012)
North Road Primary School (2010, 2011 & 2012 tour & winners: 1st Mbale Tigers-NDT Open 2012)
Namatala Primary School (2010, 2011 & 2012)
Busumaga Primary School (2011 & 2012)
Police Primary School (2011 & 2012)
Wambwa Primary School (2011 & 2012)
Maluku School Primary School (2011 & 2012)
Jinja, Uganda: (all new into the NDT programme in 2012 – 4 rural and 4 town schools)
Budondo Primary School (rural)
Al Swidiiq Primary School (rural)
Catholic Primary School (rural)
St Pauls Primary School (rural)
Army Boarding
Naranbhai
Main Street
Walakuba West Primary School (this has deaf children we worked with for the first time this year)
The 2012 Winners were:
Mbale Cup Winners – Wambwa
Cup Runners-up – Police
Mbale Plate winners – Namatala
Plate runners up – Yoweri
Jinja Cup Winners – Army Boarding School
Cup Runners Up – Catholic Primary
Jinja Plate Winners – Budondo Primary School
Plate Runners Up – Al Swidiiq Primary
NDT Mbale Tournament (22nd March, 2013)
Winners – Busamaga
Runners-up – Namatala
Bhubaneshwar, Odisha (India)
Kalinga Institute of Social Science (KISS)
Sai International School
Kalinga International School (KIIT-IS)
ODM School
Tournament results:
India 2011 tour (at Sai):
Cup Winners – KISS 2
Cup Runners-up – KISS 1
Bowl winners – Sai 1
Bowl Runners-up – ODM 2
India 2012 tournament (at Sai)
Winners – KISS
Runners-up – KIIT-IS
India 2012 tour (at KISS)
Cup winners – KISS 1
Cup runners-up – KISS 2
Bowl winners – KIIT-IS 2
Bowl runners-up – SAI 1
Malvali, District Pune, Maharashtra (India)
SAMPARC School, Bhambarde
SAMPARC Bal Gram, Bhaje
SAMPARC School, Poynad
SAMPARC Bal Asha Ghar, Pimpalgaon
Bonde High School, Lonavala
Kaivaldham English Medium School, Lonavala
Nagar Palika School, Talegaon
Nagar Palika School, Khandala
Nagar Palika School, Bhaje
Antar Bharti School
VPS
Ranchi, Jharkhand (India)
Kishore Nagar Boy’s School, Namkum
Marwari School
Shanti Rani School
HERE ARE SOME VIDEOS FROM OUR 2013 VISIT TO SAMPARC, MALVALI:
Please click here to view videos from our February 2013 visit to SAMPARC, Malvali
HERE ARE SOME VIDEOS FROM OUR 2011 TOUR TO INDIA:
Contact Us:
Monica Thandi
Email: netballtrust@hotmail.com
Tel: ++44 7737 512 145
Netball Development Trust – UK charity registration no. 1145858
