The England Roses have been breaking new ground with their recent Commonwealth Games gold, but closer to home it is Brenda Pegg of Bishop’s Stortford Netball Club who is making history. Brenda was part of a group of mums and friends who founded BSNC, the town’s first netball club nearly 40 years ago in 1979, and helped create the Bishop’s Stortford & District Netball League a year later to make competitive netball possible. She has been expanding netball opportunities for women aged 14 and above in the local area ever since.
These initiatives include annual summer leagues run under Brenda’s Stortford Netball banner for over a decade, and this year’s editions saw 30 teams from 17 clubs sweat it out for victory. In the Monday night league at Leventhorpe, Omega topped the Division 1 table while Sparks 2 won Division 2. In the Thursday night league at Romeera, Bishop’s Stortford took home the Division 1 honours, while Mystix were crowned winners of Division 2.
Through her leagues, Brenda has also been a staunch supporter of charitable causes in the local area. Both leagues concluded this week with their annual charity night, where £327 was raised for St Clare Hospice, East of England Air Ambulance and Macmillan Cancer Care.
Brenda shows no signs of stopping yet though and under her close tutelage, netball continues to go from strength to strength locally and for BSNC in particular. A thriving ‘back to netball’ setup runs alongside the competitive club, with indoor training held on Wednesday evenings and league matches contested on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. BSNC also flies the flag for the town in the Herts County League, competing in Division 2 at the Sir Frederick Osborn School in Welwyn.
For more information on joining BSNC email bishopsstortfordnc@gmail.com or visit https://www.facebook.com/bishopsstortfordnc or visit our Contact page.
[This article first appeared in the Bishop’s Stortford Independent on Thursday 26th July 2018.]