Thursday 6 October 2022 Tracey Neville, former netball international and head coach of England, put over 100 Leeds youngsters through their paces at The Grammar School at Leeds recently. Tracey visited the school to open the sports dome, a new, covered sports facility at The Grammar School at Leeds (GSAL). She ran a netball training session with the U15 and U16 GSAL netball teams. This was followed by skills workshop for pupils from eight local primary schools where they practiced shooting, passing, moving and defending under the watchful gaze of the former national coach. After the training sessions, Tracey cut the ribbon to officially open the dome. The ceremony was also attended by Bob Bowman, CEO of Leeds Rhinos Foundation, the official charity of Leeds Rhinos rugby and netball. Bob said: “The partnership between GSAL and Leeds Rhinos coupled with this excellent facility will provide opportunities for the Superleague franchise to integrate themselves with the wider community. The facility will also help showcase the sport of netball in Leeds and the wider region.” Netball is going from strength to strength at the school with Paige Reed, a Rhinos and England Roses player also taking up the role of Head Netball Coach. Lorcan O’Brien, Whole School Director of Sport at GSAL said: “I am delighted that Tracey Neville joined us to open this great new sports facility at GSAL, and it was fantastic to see girls and boys from local primary pupils having fun and enjoying this great sport. The dome certainly lays a firm foundation to grow our partnerships with the local sports community and in the wider community of Leeds.” The schools who took part in the skills sessions were Kerr Mackie Primary, Roundhay St John Primary, Highfield Primary, Moortown Primary, Weetwood Primary, Holy Name Catholic Primary, Immaculate Heart of Mary RC Primary, Parklands Primary and The Grammar School at Leeds. The dome, which has the backing of Sport England and England Netball, contains four tennis courts and three netball courts. It is available to the local community in the evenings, weekends and during the school holidays. Further information on hiring this facility can be found here. Image: Former England head coach, Tracey Neville with GSAL pupils (credit: Simon Dewhurst) General Senior School News Whole School Sports Community
