Background (1975-1995)

Way back in the 1970s a primary school teacher in Birmingham found herself elected as chairman of the local junior schools netball league. The teacher’s name was Dianne Barber, and the league was the Kings Norton District Junior Netball Association.

Dianne had always been a keen netballer. She is a qualified PE specialist teacher. She has played netball at senior level for Birmingham County and the West Midlands Region, and she was one of the successful team from Linden Netball Club who won the National Clubs Competition in 1980 (equivalent to the FA Cup Final, but without the publicity!).

The Kings Norton District Junior Netball Association ran a junior schools’ league of eight sections and an annual tournament, and all the best girls from primary schools in south Birmingham were invited to trials for the District Squad, which played against the other Districts in Birmingham. The District squad was made almost exclusively of “top juniors” (this was long before we learned to call them “Year 6”), so there was a distinct lack of continuity between one year and the next.

These girls all left their junior schools at the end of the year. A few were lucky enough to go to secondary schools that played netball; most were unlucky and many were lost to the sport. There were no Little Leagues and Intermediate Leagues in those days. Girls could not play for senior clubs in the Birmingham League until they were 16 (now they can play at 15). For most girls there was nothing to bridge the gap between junior school and senior clubs.

Dianne also ran and coached (with Jenny Billings) the City Junior teams under the now defunct Birmingham Primary Schools Netball Association (BPSNA). Their players were drawn from Districts, and they played in a few major Tournaments each year (funds permitting). They also occasionally held a small Tournament in Birmingham. The Birmingham players did very well over the years against top clubs, considering that each year the team has had to be formed from scratch, and the girls have only about three months’ experience of playing together.

By the early 1990s the KNDJNA had grown from the original twelve schools to over forty, but the number of Districts competing in Birmingham fell from about six to just two. This limited the opportunities for the Kings Norton girls to play at a level above that of their schools. One or two matches were arranged against Year 7 teams in secondary schools, but few secondary schools seemed to have netball teams.

Dianne began to look further afield, and began to enter the Kings Norton District Team (playing as Birmingham Junior team) in the Kings Norton colours (purple and white) in tournaments around the country, playing against other intermediate level clubs. For several years parents and girls had voiced the need for continuity for girls playing netball at years 6 and above. In 1995 the Team played and beat Ducie Netball Team from Manchester, who went on to become the National Champions. The District squad of really enthusiastic girls begged her to let them play together after they had left junior school. In response to the girls’ enthusiasm Birmingham City Netball Club was born.