U15 North-West Korfball Academy open for athlete registration

Lancaster Phoenix Korfball Club on behalf of the North West Korfball Association is again running the North-West Academy after last year’s successful season.

Last season regular training and inter-region competition took place, and for the first time ever, athletes from the North-West were selected to represent England in the U15 and U17 age groups.

For children who are aged over 11 on 1st September 2023 and not turning 15 before 1st January 2025, they can now develop further by joining the Academy programme.

Andrew Barnes, Academy Head Coach, said ‘We are excited to be confirming our North-West Korfball Academy programme for a second year. We’ll be offering fortnightly training and competition against other regions and there are also opportunities for athletes to be selected to represent England.

We are looking for young players, aged 11-15, with good ball skills and game awareness to join the programme. There are many transferable skills from basketball and netball, so athletes who enjoy these sports are particularly invited.’

This is part of England Korfball’s strategy for developing the Performance Pathway, which saw the set up of four regional academies last year (in the South-East, East, London and North-West regions) focused on the U15 age group. The aim is to broaden the base from which future England Korfball talent can be drawn and as a result the North West had athletes in the England squads for the first time last year.

The Academy programme will consist of fortnightly training sessions, up to four inter-region competitions and the opportunity to be selected to represent England in international competition.

Academy training sessions will take place 10am-12pm two Saturdays a month at the Lancaster Royal Grammar School sports hall. Athletes commit to the full one-year programme though new players are also welcome to join the training on adhoc basis before committing.

The Regional Academy Programme will deliver the following aspects of youth athlete development:

• ○ Coaching focused on age appropriate and athlete-centred korfball development by qualified coaches

• ○ Access to an introductory level Athlete Development Training Programme focused on building physiological resilience in knees, hips and ankles in our athletes

• ○ Competition opportunities (national and international) based on pillars of development and performance which are matched to the developmental needs of the athletes

The lead coach will be Andrew Barnes, supported by a regular coaching team and guest coaches from the North-West.

To register and for more information, see https://lancasterphoenixkorfball.wordpress.com/north-west-under-15-academy/