The 29 swimmers came from eight different clubs while the 30 netball players were connected with one of the three academies that have recently been set up.  However, all of the children also had a chance to sample the other sport and compare training methods used.

 

The action finished with a netball tournament on the Sunday and the weekend also included presentations and lectures for parents from both the regional development officers for swimming and netball. 

 

The programme was jointly designed by Suffolk Sports county development officers, Ian Cotton for swimming and Juliet Mc Murray for netball, and was overseen by Tracy Brownlow.  She believed the event had been a great success and said 'The camp not only provided an excellent learning environment for these young people but also gave an opportunity for coaches to develop their coaching skills.'

 

Juliet McMurray added 'It was excellent, we could not have asked for anything better.  The main benefit for the girls was seeing different coaches who had new ideas and they gave them different skills to learn.  We saw a big improvement in just over the weekend from the things that the players had taken on board and then put into practice.  The girls enjoyed it and the parents and coaches also gained a great deal from it.  We would love to hold one again next year because everyone got so much out of it.'

 

Swimming will feature at a similar camp in April 06 and there is a chance that other sports may be included as well.  There is also likely to be another netball event, but this will probably not happen until 2007.