Boosting Participation and Building Confidence: Berkhamsted x Saracens Mavericks  

“We are looking to inspire our pupils to become even better netball players than they already are” says Tom Pierce, Berkhamsted’s Director of Sport while discussing our school’s upcoming partnership with Saracens Mavericks Netball.   

Berkhamsted’s sports department are always seeking ways to develop our pupil’s character while encouraging lifelong participation in the sports they are passionate about. What better way to inspire long-term participation in netball than introducing our pupils to the talented professional netball players from the Netball Super League franchise, Saracens Mavericks?  

After Berkhamsted’s successful partnership with Saracens Rugby, Director of Sport, Tom Pierce, and Head of Netball, Dannii Titmuss-Morris, considered how the school’s relationship with Saracens could be further utilised to benefit as many pupils as possible. “We knew that the school’s partnership with Saracens Rugby had improved our rugby players’ confidence and participation in the sport, so we decided to develop our relationship with the team by partnering with Saracens Netball team, Saracens Mavericks (a Netball Super League franchise based in Hertfordshire)” says Tom.   

Player masterclasses, kits prize giveaways, and the opportunity for interactions with high-achieving professional players are just some of the exciting benefits that the partnership will offer our pupils. But Dannii and Tom are most eager for the partnership to develop pupils’ confidence and encourage them to become more engaged in the sport. “For us, boosting participation and encouraging pupils to become inspired by some of Saracens Mavericks’ top-class players is what this partnership is all about” Tom tells us.   

Dannii adds “We have several performance athletes already at Berkhamsted, representing in England Future Roses, Scotland U17s and across franchise netball. This partnership will not only continue to accelerate the development of those athletes, but it will also inspire those not yet on a performance pathway to pursue their playing potential.”   

For ten pupils, the partnership will open the opportunity to attend a netball bootcamp hosted at our school. The camp will offer training led by Saracens Mavericks coaches and players. “The camp being hosted at Berkhamsted makes this training easily accessible for our pupils, boosting their participation in the sport” says Dannii.   

“We want this partnership to inspire excellence in our pupils, I want the pupils to see the standard of netball played by Saracens Mavericks and I hope that this will encourage them to be the best that they can be!”   

We look forward to watching our netball players thrive with the support of the professional Saracens Mavericks franchise.