Former England netballer delivers coaching masterclass to Doncaster players

Sixty women attended the sessions which were held at Rossington Community Sports Village and were part-funded and organised by Doncaster and District Netball League.

Chair of the League, Laura Sydney said: "The two back to back sessions Rachel ran were just fantastic! She's so knowledgeable and such a great coach as well as being really funny too! We are so grateful to Rachel for coming all the way up to Doncaster to see us, and pass on some of her expert knowledge. She is an absolute legend of the game and loads of our players (myself included) were pretty starstruck!"

Rachel Dunn is one of the England netball Roses’ longest-serving players having debuted for the national team in 2004. The goal shooter went on to achieve more than 90 caps despite never playing full-time; opting to balance elite netball with her career as a genetic technologist for the NHS.

Dunn was a member of the team that won bronze at the Commonwealth Games in both 2006 and 2010. She also won bronze at the Netball World Cup on three occasions (2011, 2015 and 2019).

Domestically, Dunn is one of the most recognisable faces in the Netball Superleague having played at the elite level since the League's inception in 2005 before choosing to retire in 2023. She made more than 200 league appearances for the likes of Team Bath, Surrey Storm, Wasps Netball and Cardiff Dragons. She is currently the assistant coach at Severn Stars and her experience is helping them to their highest ever finish in the Superleague this year.

The Doncaster and District Netball League is a member-run, not-for-profit organisation. They are a group of women, from all ages and all walks of life, brought together by their love of netball. Competitive netball has had a home in Doncaster for decades, with The Robin Hood League originally established over 30 years ago!

Over the last few years, netball in Doncaster has gone from strength to strength. Thanks to the hard work of the volunteer committee (elected annually by the members) and thanks to a very generous donation from Doncaster Council’s “Get Doncaster Moving” Sports Funding, they currently offer two netball leagues and a Netball4All weekly training session. They run various tournaments throughout the year and following the success of the Rachel Dunn coached session (and a similar evening a few months ago when they hosted Leeds Rhino netball player Amy Braithwaite) the club is looking forward to more professional coached training sessions. New members are always welcome and should visit the website www.netballdoncaster.co.uk for more information.