After six months of waiting, the ladies and girls of Sidmouth Netball Club are finally back on court with huge smiles and a great attitude, writes Clare Johnson.

Behind the scenes there has been a massive effort by three of our fabulous coaches Louise Hastie, Louise Neilson and Sandra Parnell to ensure the safe return to the sport that is so much enjoyed by so many.

Our dedicated Covid-19 Officer, Sandra Parnell, has done a magnificent job of ensuring that everyone knows the new rules to follow - both on and off the court.

The ladies and Under-18s got the season underway in their new temporary home under the floodlights of Honiton’s outside courts.

The close contact of the good old days has gone, as has the three-foot distance marking rule.

In their place we have a new four-foot marking rule and the requirement for all players to remain socially distanced when not attacking the ball.

As our ladies and U18s found out, this means more running, more puffing and some very sore muscles the following morning!

The excitement didn’t end there as our juniors took to the outside courts at St John’s International School.

The beaming smiles could not hide the real sense of relief from our coaches, parents and players that netball is back on court. Thankfully the sun was shining, and a great deal of new learning took place with all girls getting a sense of what the new ‘netball normal’ might look like.

The next step is to get some friendly matches in the diary and to return to our normal training slots on a Tuesday and Thursday evening before the nights draw in and the rain returns.

For those interested in joining Sidmouth netball as a player, volunteer or coach please contact us at sidmouthnetball@gmail.com , or visit our newly launched website for further details of training times and opportunities: www.sidmouthnetball.co.uk

We are very keen to hear from anyone who would like to take up their Level 1 or Level 2 coaching qualification and help the club to develop further.

All funding for coaching and umpiring courses will be provided by the club.