Hucclecote Netball Club celebrates 50th birthday

Sue Wainwright founded the club 50 years ago

A netball club founded to give the partners of rugby players something to do is celebrating its 50th birthday.

Hucclecote Netball Club in Gloucestershire began in 1974, and is marking its anniversary with a gala dinner on Saturday.

"We basically got bored of watching rugby. I was a newly-qualified PE teacher and suggested we start a netball club," said founder and chair Sue Wainwright.

The club now has more than 500 regular members.

It fields around 11 adult teams every weekend, 12 junior teams, and has a mini league for children aged 7-10, with around 100 of those taking part.

"It is a huge milestone and I had no idea we would grow to where we are now," Ms Wainright said.

"I do get a lot of accolades for starting the club but it is built on so many volunteers and parents who put in so much.

"With the size we are now you need a huge volunteer workforce to make it so successful."

International successes

Hucclecote currently leads division one of the national league, made up of the top 10 netball clubs in the country.

Club alumni have also gone on to play for England and Wales over the years.

Ms Wainwright said about 130 former players had been invited to attend the gala dinner.

"We've invited the original seven players from the first team back in the 1970s, to players who are playing with us today.

"Some of them haven't seen each other for over 40 years so it'll be a wonderful event," she said.