The enjoyment and passion for netball is shared by many throughout South Africa, especially among the girls in the townships. However, while the desire to develop and play as part of a well-structured team is evident in many schools and communities, there is a distinct lack of netball facilities, sports equipment and decent netball coaches. This makes the opportunities for young netball players to play and develop very limited. Fortunately, by joining our netball coaching project in South Africa, you will enable hundreds of keen young athletes to play and enjoy the sport in a structured and fun netball environment.

 

We welcome netball coaching volunteers who enjoy playing or coaching netball, be it socially with friends, representing your school, club or university netball team, or even as far as holding netball coaching qualifications. The emphasis is not on developing Africa's next big netball star, but on getting alongside children from disadvantaged backgrounds and building friendships over a common passion for netball. It is from here that you will start to give enthusiastic netball players the chance to play netball in a rewarding and positive way. Whatever your netballing background, be assured that you will be able to offer something worthwhile to the children and communities you work with.

 

During your netball coaching placement, you will be under the guidance of our in-country team and largely based in the townships and schools that skirt the city. The first stage as a volunteer netball coach is to help organise and run netball training clinics and netball matches for the children, as well as providing them with decent netball equipment. This is a great way of forming relationships with your netball players and also for developing your own confidence as a sports coach. The second stage will be planning and running netball tournaments that incorporate both netball matches and team-building activities.

 

Working as a volunteer netball coach in South Africa will mean you are responsible for organising and supervising all netball training and matches for your netball players. This may sound daunting, but you will soon discover that you have an understanding of the game that your players are hungry to have. The rewards are impressive because the enthusiasm from your players is guaranteed, but the understanding of the basics and the experience of a team structure are often not. Therefore, by introducing passing and shooting techniques, as well as position holding, movement and team play, your netball players will develop rapidly. You will also have the flexibility to introduce your own netball coaching methods. From technical plays to fitness training, you will soon develop your own netball coaching programme, unique to you and your netball players.

 

Volunteering as a netball coach on a gap year project in South Africa is a truly rewarding way to spend your gap year experience. Not only will you enjoy exciting gap year travel and make some lifelong friends, you will be giving something back through an impacting gap year sports project that brings keen gap year volunteers together from around the world, united in their passion to coach and play netball in South African communities.