The Severn Stars Netball Franchise has a clear vision to develop, perform and grow! We are looking for talented netball players to progress and be a part of our Severn Stars player pathway. We have an emphasis on nurturing and developing talent and creating a professional inclusive environment for all.

During 2021 England Netball had consultations with Franchise/Regional/County representatives about player pathway with three fundamental objectives:

• To review the current player pathway structure/system
• Engage with stakeholders to ensure they are heard and fully represented
• Identify gaps and opportunities that could create greater success for talented athletes across the player pathway.

From these consultations, England Netball have restructured their Player Pathway to provide more structure and a clear pathway for young players.

At Severn Stars, we have been working with England Netball and our Performance board to ensure we offer all players the best opportunity to develop and to represent Stars. Please see below our Severn Stars Player Journey for 2023/24 season with brief descriptions of all stages

Our Severn Stars Player Journey has a number of opportunities for players to represent the franchise at different stages of their development.

The National Performance Leagues (NPL) are England Netball sanctioned competitions for both U19 & U21 squads. It is designed to provide the game’s outstanding youth players with a performance environment. It is an organised, highly disciplined intense competition against the English Netball Super League franchises and any other invited teams.

Dates for 2023/24 Season 

Development Squad – Must have played in a franchise during 2023 either NSL or NPL, BUCS 1 or Prem 1/2

U21 – players born in 2003 or 2004
U19 – players born in 2005 or 2006
U17 – players born in 2007 t0 2009

U15 – players going into Year 9 or Year 10 in September

NPL U17- Aged under 17 and over 14 at 23:59 on 31st December 2023 (i.e., for the 2023/24 season, players must have a date of birth from 2007 to 2009). Any athlete aged 14 or under will only be eligible to compete if they are signed off by the England Netball Performance department.

If you have any questions, please get in touch with us on severnstars@worc.ac.uk

Trial Applications are now CLOSED!!

Development Trials – Thursday 28th September

Severn Stars Development Squad is aimed to bridge the gap between our U21s and NSL squads.

To trial for our Development Team you must be in one of the following;

1. Current BUCS 1 Team – any ages

2. Current SS U21s (or trialling for SS U21s)

3. In Prem Level 1 or 2 and 26 years of age and below.

Note – if you are of NPL age you must be representing Severn Stars to be considered in the Development Squad. Any exceptional athletes of U19 level will be considered post age group trials and invited to the trials.

Severn Stars U21 will represent the franchise in the National Performance League for the 2023/24 season.

Below shows the details of the U21 Programme for 2023/24

Severn Stars U17s will represent the franchise in the National Performance League for the 2023/24 season.

Below shows the details of the U17 Programme for 2023/24

We have added 3 Player Development Programmes to our Severn Stars Player Journey. These PDPs will be based one in the north, one central and one south of our franchise region.

Our PDPs will be U18. These will provide an opportunity for players who may not have made the U19/U17 squads to be supported for another year or talented athletes that want to train and play at a higher level.

From our PDPs, we will select a U18 development squad who will train once a month and play against other franchises.

Our PDPs will also provide the opportunity for talented U15s (following conversations with County U15 PDPs) to join the England Netball pathway to enable them to be selected for the U15 SS School Game Squad

• U18s Player Development Programme: Must be born 2006 – 2010

We are very proud of our Nova Programme and the athlete that it supports each season. This season we have included NPC days ran at the University of Worcester, with educational sessions around nutrition, sports therapy, S&C, Performance analysis and Wellbeing alongside match play against other NPCs.

Nova Performance Centre – Trials at NPC home venues as below.

• U18s Nova Performance Centres: Must be born 2006 – 2010

Players can chose to play for a County Development Programme and a Nova Performance Centre

This year we have added 3 Future Stars Performance Centres to our pathway. These will provide the first steps on the pathway to players U14/U13

• U14s Future Stars Performance Centres: Must be born 2010-2012

Final details to follow

Players can chose to play for a County Development Programme and a Future Stars Performance Centre

Our Severn Stars U15 Academy that will represent us at the England Netball U15 Competition on Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th August will be selected on Tuesday 6th June.

Once selected, training will run weekly on Tuesdays and Thursdays from June 13th until Thursday 24th August