King’s Shoots and Scores on International and National Courts

King’s School Macclesfield has announced an impressive number of netball representative honours, including National, Superleague and County, awarded to senior school players from across several year groups.

The list of 13 pupils awarded this school year, most of whom are members of the King’s Elite Athlete Pathway (KEAP), have been recognised for their commitment and sporting excellence. They include Minnie Farooq, who has been re-selected into the Pakistan National Academy, training and playing at international level, after her Vice Captain-winning performance at the Asia Cup in South Korea last summer.

Meanwhile, netballers of different age groups have gained recognition in four of the eight Superleague Netball Franchise Programmes, including Lottie Baxter, Orla Nash, Anya Maciejewska and Claudia Stockdale for Manchester Thunder; Grace Battersby for Leeds Rhinos; Hattie Usher and Faye Haynes for Birmingham Panthers, and Minnie Farooq for Nottingham Forest NC.

Six students, Jess Leslie, Eva Sheppard, Livi Stockdale, Anya Maciejewska, Claudia Stockdale and Ariella Atherton-Jones, have also gained places on an England Netball County Programme, the first step on the England Netball Pathway and involving specialist weekly coaching and strength and conditioning in a high-performance environment.

Jess Leslie and Eva Sheppard have also been selected to represent Cheshire in a tour to Gibraltar in December, enabling them to showcase their skill on an international stage.

Other honours include Anya Maciejewska from the U12s who has been selected to play in U13s Manchester County squad, whilst Lottie Baxter who won the U15s National School Games competition with Manchester Thunder, has been reselected for their U17s squad despite being a Year 11 student.

As well as playing senior netball, King’s Squad Captain, Bea Worlock, is also supporting the Cheshire U15 Player Development Pathway as a Development Coach and using her Netball Franchise experience to support younger athletes and their aspirations.

Head Netball Coach at King’s School, Phil Owen, praised the netballer players’ hard work.

He said:

“This year’s achievements reflect not only the incredible talent and dedication of our pupils, but also the strength of our netball and KEAP mentoring at King’s. We are proud to see our athletes thriving at every level – from local to international – and look forward to supporting their continued success.”