No tantrums at friendly Divas’ netball games

A NETBALL club which started as an idea by mum’s as they waited to pick up their children from school is going from strength-to-strength.

Dialstone Divas began in September at Life Leisure Dialstone, in Offerton, with just a handful of players but has grown into a fully-fledged club.

Netball coach Amy O’Brien got the ball rolling when she spotted a group of mums waiting outside to pick up their children from a gymnastics session.

She said: “I had a chat with them and asked if we timed the netball session to coincide with the gymnastics would they come? I was delighted how many said yes.

“The following week they all turned up and some even brought friends and it has just snowballed.

“The emphasis is fun. We do some warm up routines, some skills training and then some friendly matches.

“Some ladies who were doing no exercise before have now gone on to try more new sports, quite a few of them do zumba and badminton together.

“All the ladies are so enthusiastic it makes for a great session to coach.”

The sessions, part of Life Leisure’s I Wish I’d Tried programme, are on Thursdays from 5pm to 6.30pm

Katy Brown, a member of Dialstone Divas, said: “Whenever anyone attends they’re guaranteed to have such a great time in a fun and active sport.

“We’ve made new friends and even started a Facebook group called the Dialstone Divas.”

There is also netball at Life Leisure Avondale, Cheadle Heath, on Wednesdays from 6pm.