Discover how joining a student netball team at UoB led to leadership, confidence, and career-ready skills through society involvement.
When I joined the ELAL Netball team in first year, leadership wasn’t on my mind as it was simply a way to stay active and meet new people. I hadn’t played netball since secondary school, and at the time it simply felt like a low-pressure way to stay active alongside my Digital Media and Communications degree. However, because DMC sits within the wider English Language and Linguistics society, the team immediately felt accessible.
What began as a casual decision quickly turned into something meaningful. I found myself looking forward to every training session, gradually rebuilding confidence in a sport I’d stepped away from for years. The environment made it easy to connect, and friendships formed naturally, so by the end of each week, the team felt less like an optional activity and more like a space where I genuinely belonged.
As the year went on, netball became one of the most grounding parts of my routine. Being surrounded by people with similar interests and a shared sense of commitment created a real sense of community. I became more confident in my gameplay, but also more confident in myself.
It wasn’t just the activity itself, it was the people, the atmosphere, and the feeling of representing something collectively. Over time, this steady involvement shaped how I saw myself within the university environment. I realised that joining the team hadn’t only reintroduced me to a sport I enjoyed, it had also given me a place to grow.
At the end of my first year, I made a decision that would have surprised the version of myself who joined the team months earlier: I ran for captain. When I was elected, it felt both surreal and incredibly rewarding.
Becoming captain transformed my experience. Rather than focusing solely on my own development, I now had the opportunity to support the team as a whole, guiding players, organising training sessions, and encouraging everyone through both the victories and the more challenging losses. It was character-building in a way that academic life alone cannot offer. Leadership demands patience, empathy, and consistency. These are skills I strengthened with every training session and match.
The captaincy also placed me on the ELAL Society committee. This introduced an entirely new side of university life. Working with the social secretary, the treasurer, and other committee members gave me insight into the operational side of running a society, such as planning socials, managing budgets, booking courts, and ensuring the team remained organised.
Alongside this, I took responsibility for running the netball team’s social media. It was a chance to bring some digital creativity into a real context and align my involvement with what I studied academically. Managing posts, branding, and team communication reinforced skills that directly support my degree, and it provided a professional dimension to an experience that started out purely recreational for me.
A Transformative Experience Beyond the Court
Looking back, joining the ELAL Netball team has been one of the most influential parts of my university journey. It helped me regain confidence, develop leadership qualities, strengthen my communication skills, and build a community that has shaped both my personal and academic life.
This role is something I’m proud to include on my CV - not just for the title, but for the confidence, leadership, and transferable skills it gave me. Its real value lies in how it changed me, from someone who joined a sport for fun to someone capable of leading, organising, and contributing to a society that genuinely feels like home.
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