Volunteer Q & A

Kirsty Eadie has been a netball volunteer in some capacity for over 10 years. She is currently a volunteer coach with Cherrybank Netball Club and is also the chairperson for Perth and Kinross Netball Network.

How did you get into netball?

I started playing Netball when I was in Primary School. My mum played netball so I always went along to watch her play when I was younger and couldn’t wait to be able to start playing.

How often do you volunteer?

I volunteer 3 to 4 times a week between Cherrybank Netball Club and Perth and Kinross Netball Network.

What do you enjoy most about volunteering?

The thing I enjoy most about volunteering is working with the kids. The enthusiasm and willingness to learn is incredible and I love watching them fall in love with the sport.

Any advice to people who would like to volunteer?

If anyone wants to get involved in Netball then get in contact with Perth & Kinross Netball Network and we will help you find role that suits your experience. We’ll also help you gain confidence, skills and qualifications to progress within the sport.

What are you doing during lockdown?

At the moment we are doing our best to share various skills, fitness and old match videos across our social media platforms. It’s been amazing to see everyone, not just in the netball community, sharing great ways to stay involved in sport during this time.

How does being associated with LAL Sport help your sport / club / athletes?

LAL Sport has been invaluable to Perth and Kinross Netball Network. Logan was involved in helping set us up and is always there when we need any support. Thanks to his help we’ve secured various funding grants which has helped us to offer a range of netball opportunities in the area.

Athlete Q & A

17 year old Perth Academy pupil, Cerys Cairns has been on a winning streak with netball for the past 4 years, most recently seeing her hard work pay off when she won the award for Young Female Sports Person of the Year at the Perth and Kinross Sports Awards in March.

Cerys found her love of netball at a Holiday Sports camp in Bell’s Sports Centre when she was only ten years old. In the seven years since then she has chalked up any number of achievements including being selected for both the u15s and U17s Scotland squads the latter of which saw her compete at Netball Europe.

In January this year she was selected for the Strathclyde Sirens squad, the semi-professional team competing in the Vitality Netball Superleague. She also trains with the Scottish Thistles senior squad and was selected as a reserve at the World Cup in Liverpool last year, and with the Scotland u21s squad at National level with whom she has now gained three international caps. At club level, she is currently playing with the Scotstoun Netball Club in Glasgow.

As well as training with her squads, Cerys has been selected for the Scottish Institute of Sport programme (SIS) for performance athletes. This has been a natural progression from her place on the Performance Squad with Live Active Leisure, and she credits her work with Gil Stevenson at Bell’s Sports Centre as preparing her for this next step in her career.

“Being part of the talented athlete scheme and having access to the Strength and Conditioning sessions allowed me to progress and to seize the opportunities within the national set up. I started the sessions with Gil when I was in the development squad and continued with them once I was selected into the national u17s. They were invaluable to me.”

During lockdown Cerys still has a busy training schedule to work on issued by the Institute of Sport and as a squad they have regular zoom sessions to complete training together and to have a catch up with everyone.

As a local athlete how much did the Performance Strength & Conditioning Squad help you develop as a Netball player?

For me, being part of the Performance S&C helped me hugely and encouraged me to think about why and how I was training, rather than just what I was doing. By making me stronger and faster on the court, I have been able to stand up to the physical demands of the game, and to my opponents.

You were also a member of the Live Active Leisure (TAS) Talented athlete scheme which gives you free access to all our gyms and pools across P&K - How much did this help you to access training?

Being a member of the scheme and having access to gyms and halls was such big help to me as it meant I was able to build up my fitness to complement the work I was doing with Gil at my weights sessions. As I am a shooter it also meant I was able to book a court to practise my shooting which really helped, especially in the winter months or on rainy days.

You have transitioned from LAL - SIS how much and is there any specifics that helped you transition across to the institute programme?

I think for me it was a fairly easy transition as Gil had prepared me well with the sessions he had provided during my time with him. I had already learnt the lifting techniques so felt confident when I started with SIS.

Would you recommend the Performance S&C programme to any local athlete?

Definitely! It made me think more about how I was training and the importance of being physically ready. The support I received during my sessions and knowing I could ask for advice was invaluable.

How did you find the overall support and programming from Gil?

Gil was so supportive during my time in the programme and nothing was ever a bother. He was able to fit me in when I could manage along as initially the sessions clashed with my netball training. He was always there to ask questions and took a keen interest in my netball. His programmes were always well structured and benefitted me hugely. I will always be grateful for what he did for me.