Page 65 - RADC 2016

AMS Netball – A Story of Success
Maj Charlie Winship RADC
Historically, preparation for the annual Inter-Corps Netball Championship has been fairly informal. We would turn up the night before the competition in Aldershot, have a quick training session and pick teams. Despite this, we consistently managed to come mid-table of Division
1 as we have always had a handful of talented players within the AMS. The AGC or RLC have won the Inter-Corps Competition title every year since the formal competition began in 1993. These ‘giant’ Corps have a wealth of talent, elding international players and predictably thrashing all other Corps.
I took over as the Secretary for AMS Netball in 2014 and, as I am a Netball fanatic, decided to shake things up. I started as Captain/Coach/Manager/One-man
band etc. and planned a structured training program which spanned the season, starting with AMS Inter-Units in May, a training weekend, friendlies, the rst ever AMS Netball Tour and then the season culminating in Inter-Corps at the end of October.
Teamed with a very supportive Chairperson, Col Andrea Lewis L/QARANC, we bid for increased funding from the AMSSU and it was granted. This opened the door for tour funding and employing a coach.
My mantra for AMS netball is for it to be all inclusive and invite players of any standard to get involved. Netball is the UK’s most popular female participation sport; most of us ladies played it at school and many of us have a well-buried competitive streak when it comes to this particular sport.
By fostering an open-door policy, we ended up with a large pool of players, some of whom we are very much developing, but by getting the word out about AMS Netball across the Reserve and Regular Army, we were able to form a more competitive competition squad. Adding people to my AMS Netball WhatsApp group (which seemed like a good idea at the time) turned into a full time job.
Last year I appointed a formal committee (as the ‘one-man band’ act was wearing
Maj Gen Skeates with AMS1 Inter-Corps Champions 2016
AMS Netball Squad 2016
thin) and this year have been appointed AMS Netball Chairperson by Col Lewis (which essentially means I can preside over the empire but do less of the hard graft). This year the super-keen committee organised AMS Netball’s second tour, new kit and AMS participation at the Bournemouth 7’s Tournament. There are now 3 squads; AMS 2 is captained by SSgt Slade-Jones and AMS 3 by SSgt Zoe Beckett, both RADC, although we have a real mix of AMS players from both the Reservist and Regulars. We have squad and tour WhatsApp groups, a Facebook page and a MOSS page which keeps us well connected.
In the lead-up to the 2016 Inter-Corps Competition, I had a feeling our AMS 1 squad was potentially the strongest we had elded in my time. I also was aware AMS
2 could be competitive over other Corps’ second teams. We elded a third squad for the developing players as open participation has been key to growing the sport.
On day 1 of the competition, AMS 1 won their pool, however we had not been truly
tested. On the second day, we went through to the top division (Golden League) and then faced tough opponents in the Royal Signals and RLC 1. We fought hard to win both matches. By this time, as the competition under-dogs, we had a lot of support from other Corps and crowds were growing for
our matches. Never before had an AMS team made it to the Inter-Corps Final, we were ecstatic but knew we had to remain focussed. AMS 1 watched on as AMS 2 won the Bronze league title – our rst major success.
The reckoning nally came as we faced AGC 1 in the nal, who had predictably trampled on the competition throughout. It is fair to say, no one thought we could win (we had a glimmer of hope), but as the long wait for the nal came around, we were calm and collected. The nal was fought neck and neck, but in the end, the AMS did what it does best; we kept our heads. We forced their errors and took advantage. The shots went in from both sides, one after
the other. In the last 2 minutes, we nally gained a 2 goal lead and as the nal whistle blew, we couldn’t believe it...we had won! We had made Corps Netballing history
and felt euphoric. We now understood how Leicester City felt when they won the Premiership!
AMS 1 won Inter-Corps Championship title and AMS 2 won the Bronze League – that’s two out of 3 titles for the competition. Next year we will be back again to defend them.
If you would like to get involved in the action, no matter how rusty you think you are, please contact me; charlotte.winship100@mod.uk
RADC BULLETIN 2016 63