Rutland County Netball League is now in its second year of running, having launched their first competitive league games in March 2012. The league is now the proud host to 10 Rutland based teams which play each week across two divisions; and having won the coveted Sports Project of the Year Award at the 2012 Rutland Active Community Sports Awards (alongsidea further nomination for the Leicester Mercury's Community Sports Award – the results will be announced Jan 17^th at the event), RCNL is set to continue its rapid growth and, most importantly, to offer a friendly, supportive and encouraging environment for women wishing to return to sport.

The league has recently appointed a Back to Netball Coordinator in the form of Jo Kelly, who attends each Monday night Back to Netball training session, and alongside Rutland Rocket's coach, Sam Griffin, is helping to group the most recent intake of individuals to form RCNL's newest netball teams. Jo will then help to integrate these teams into the League structure on a Thursday night. League Chair, Tina Sayers, explains, "In our early days we were able to run Back to Netball sessions alongside our league games, so our Back to Netball teams were able to watch the league games in action, speak to the players and easily move from the Back to Netball format, to competitive league games. However, having grown in size so quickly, we now utilise all of our courts for league matches, so with the help of Sam and Debbie from Rutland's Junior netball squad, Rutland Rockets, we've been able to set up a separate Back to Netball training group on Monday evenings. Jo is essential to this process as she is now the link between Back to Netball and the league structure, is a friendly face for our newest players, and has done a fantastic job in building numbers – she even handed out fliers at Oakham Christmas market, which has result in a massive new intake of players! Now is the perfect time to join us; it's a new year so we're helping to make those 'get fit' resolutions a realistic possibility in a fun, easily maintainable way, and our ladies are making new friends at the same time! There's no need to feel intimidated as everyone is in the same boat, and every single one of our players has said at some point, "but I haven't played for 10, 15, 20 years"… but they are now, and they're loving the experience.

RCNL is looking for new players to join our Back to Netball sessions, and to form new teams to help continue to build our league. Indoor training sessions run on Monday evenings at Catmose Sports Centre from 8pm and cost £3. League games run on Thursday evenings from 7pm.

RCNL is committed to helping Rutland's women get back into sport and physical recreation. We offer a friendly, supportive environment for women of all ages, shapes and size. See www.rcnl.co.ukor find us on Facebook – Rutland County Netball League, for more info.