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Alice loves her netball with a passion
PembrokeshireSport.co.uk is always wary of making sweeping statements but can say without fear of contradiction that no one has ever made a greater contribution to netball in Pembroke Dock than Alice Watts, who started out with the Pembroke Ladies Netball team as long ago as 1979 and is still involved today, having played for most of that time and doubled up as a very able coach.
Not content with that little lot, Alice is also team manager to the Welsh Under 17 team, coaches the Pembrokeshire College academy squad, works for Pembrokeshire County Council’s Sport Development department with a remit to develop netball in junior schools across the county, and a Grade A umpire who has officiated at international matches – phew!
Busy at college and junior schools
But it is typical of Alice that she is eager to play down her work for netball, saying that she has had more out of her involvement than she has ever put into it.
“It is wonderful to still be involved and I am off to Belfast for a five-day ‘Netball Europe’ competition with the Welsh under 17s where we will take on Ireland, England and Scotland. What a treat for me!”
“I am also kept busy at the college, where I work for nine hours a week but I also travel to away games and umpire them against the likes of Gorseinon, Swansea, Brecon and Neath, as well as being involved with the girls for every Monday, Wednesday and Friday afternoon sessions, where we work hard at developing skills and tactical awareness. They are a good bunch of girls and are beginning to realise their potential.”
Alice also works 14 hours each week with Sport Pembrokeshire and in the past five years she has started up junior school netball in Fishguard, Narberth and Milford – so she now coaches at Narberth, Milford and Pembroke Dock, with Fishguard now able to carry on with their own established coaches.
Started at 11 in Doncaster
It must seem a long way away for Alice since she first tried her hand at Netball as an 11 year old in St Peters School, Doncaster, and took to it straight away. She played until the family moved to Malaya because her dad was in the army, and she tried basketball out there but readily admits it wasn’t the same!
In 1979 her father moved to Manorbier and the family were domiciled in Pembroke Dock, where she heard that a netball club had been started so she joined Maureen Molyneaux, Maureen Hallett and Maureen Ward in a team where she started out in the ‘goal attack’ position and eventually moved to ‘goal shooter’ position so she always claimed her share of the goals as they won the league a few times, beating strong clubs like Carmarthen, Aberystwyth, Cardigan and Milford Haven in the process, with players of the calibre of Anne Skyrme, Linda Hier, Irene Boswell, Lynne Lewis and Kim Shone involved – and with Theresa Clewely as coach.
Proud moments
Ask Alice about her proudest moments and she would single out winning the ‘Player of the Year’ award after the first season as one of them:
“It was a real honour to be picked but it was made doubly so because the trophy was made by the late Phil Lloyd, who worked at Pembroke Leisure Centre and looked after us so well. Phil Was a lovely man and it is nice that my name was the first one on it.”
Alice was already coaching when that team began to break up because of family commitments so she brought in a group of talented young players like Tracey Davey, Fay Omnett, Rachel Skyrme, Alex Williams, Anne and Theresa McQuillan, who are twins, Charlotte Lacey and Alice’s daughter, Tracey. They gradually grew in confidence and stature to become a very good team and so Tracey was able to retire from playing in 2004/5 – and when she decided it was time to officially retire as coach the girls presented her with two lovely framed photographs, one of the original team and the other of ‘her girls’, both of which proudly adorn her home!
It was a similar story with her granddaughter Megan, when she was eager to start playing at seven years old, so Alice started up the junior team within the Pembroke Ladies set-up – and Megan is now playing for the senior squad some ten years later, and appears in the modern photograph presented to Alice!
And finally . . .
Outside of her family and netball, Alice loves watching other sports like rugby, football and tennis but is far too busy to be involved in them. Although she has officially retired as coach to the Pembroke Ladies she still coaches on club nights but no longer travels to away matches with the teams. But chat to her for a moment and her passion for the club and her coaching in particular, plus netball in general, is very evident.
“I have had a wonderful time in the game and I have been so lucky to be involved for so long,” says Alice, with a smile. What she omits to say is that she has given loads of time, effort and genuine commitment to local netball, which has been very lucky to have Alice Watts being involved for so long!
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