Congratulations to the University of Plymouth Netball Club committee, who have been awarded their Icons Award for their efforts through an extremely difficult year.
The UPSU Icons Awards celebrate our Sports Clubs and Societies that have gone above and beyond throughout this year. There are certain criteria each group has to complete to win their award which is then approved by the UPSU Sports and Societies Teams. This year we have seen so many amazing things happen throughout our student community, including the efforts of UPNC.
Who are the Netball Club: 
"We have maintained our Gold Icons status, proving that we are one of the best clubs on campus. UPNC also offers chances to get involved with many aspects of Netball, including coaching and officiating.
Fundraising for Charity has a big presence in the club, last year alone we raised around £2,000 for PAPYRUS through many events such as Sports Tournaments, Quizzes, Bake Sales and the Plymouth 10k.
Despite the UK going into lockdown, UPNC were up and running (literally) to raise £1500 for NHS Charities.
Old Girls and Freshers, we look forward to welcoming you all back to Plymouth to make up for lost time and hopefully kick start a better year!"
- University of Plymouth Netball Club
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Committee Members behind the Society -
- Chair - Bethany Pearce
- Treasurer - Abigail Cadwallader & Isla Symons
- Safety Officer - Jennie Llion & Heidi White
- Secretary - Phoebe Blair-Rains & Kayleigh Eagling
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Plymouth Netball Club Successes:
The University of Plymouth Netball Club has been awarded their Icons Award for being on their game in a year of lockdowns and confusion for students. They have completed and signed off all relevant documents required by the Students’ Union Sports Department and updated their SU website page.
They have missed no more than three Sports Forums throughout this academic year and held a successful Annual General Meeting (AGM) to vote in the next year's committee members while complying with all SU policies and procedures by keeping in touch with the relevant Activities Coordinators. The club’s core committee members have attended every compulsory committee training session and any trips, tours or events were registered with the Students’ Union while demonstrating effective financial management with their budgets and funding.
Netball Club has kept consistent engagement with the Students Union this year by meeting with staff and interacting with the Team Plymouth Instagram and regularly meeting with UPSU Nancy Astor Facilities staff for training and even hosted a UPSU Instagram takeover in December.
The club has hosted fortnightly online socials for their numbers including Firework Bingo, Netball vs Football Quiz Night and their Centurion Challenge social as well as producing successful social media campaigns such as Meet the Committee and updating members throughout lockdown with ‘Day in the Life of the Committee' stories on Instagram.
The club worked hard to organise fundraising events, their ‘UPNC Goes Pink’ week in March, to fundraise for their chosen charity Coppafeel, raised a great £280 for the charity, as well as taking part in the Plymouth Marrow Society's 'Hero Week'.
They have shown excellent communications between themselves and their members through Zoom, Facebook and WhatsApp, organised introduction videos to the club which were released in Freshers Week and ran their first Welcome Social at the beginning of October. As well as managing to encourage 53.2% of their members to vote in the UPSU Elections to decide who they want to represent them in the next academic year.
And finally, the Netball Club completed the additional criteria to be awarded their Icons Award including up-skilling club members by applying for First Aid training for their Vice-Chair and Health and Safety Secretary, while members were involved in the ‘Look After Your Mate’ training to help support mental health.
They have formed a link with ProActive offering the club paid opportunities as coaching staff, including their vice-chair Kayleigh who has now been offered a full-time role with them. ProActive also offered the opportunity to gain Coaching, First Aid and Food and Hygiene qualifications for no cost to the club, benefiting the girls who took part, but also the club as a whole. On top of all this, the club has held joint quiz night socials working with the Plymouth Football Club. To see such great work happening while working from home shows how amazing our student community really is and how well deserved this award is by the Netball Club.
Congratulations from all of us here at UPSU!
The University of Plymouth Netball Club has been awarded their Icons for all the amazing work they have done over this year voluntarily and on top of their own studies, this couldn't be more deserved and we can wait to see what you bring to the Students' Union next year!
Stay tuned and keep an eye on our social media channels over the coming weeks to read a profile of each student group that has achieved Icons this year.
You’ll be able to find out more about what they did to receive this award and how you can get involved in September.
Want to find out what Sports and Societies are out there? Click here