Repton School Dubai travelled to the UK recently with Trans World Educational Experiences for the school’s first ever netball development tour. The action-packed week included a West End show, sightseeing activities, challenge matches, coaching sessions with professional players and a live Superleague Netball match.
After arriving in the UK the group headed straight for a coaching session with local Vitality Superleague club Hertfordshire Mavericks. Despite the lengthy travel time the Repton girls were in great spirits throughout the session, paying close attention to each instruction and giving their all from start to finish.
A trip to the theatre finished a busy first day in style. After two flights, a coaching session and a West End show it is fair to say the group were ready to call it a night after arriving at the team hotel!
The London leg of the tour also included visits to see some famous faces in Madame Tussauds, reliving the ghoulish past of the capital city in the London Dungeon and taking in some breath-taking views at the top of the London Eye.
The girls tested themselves against a number of local schools and clubs throughout the week and their improvement was evident for all to see as the tour progressed. A couple of close fought matches following the first coaching session inspired the girls to continue to work hard going into the rest of their coaching sessions in Loughborough.
The British Spring weather was certainly a new experience for a number of the players who are more accustomed to the Dubai sun on their backs during netball matches. Huge credit to the girls who put in some fine performances during the sun, wind and even hail!
The trip was topped off with a visit to Repton’s sister school in Derbyshire. A tour of the wonderful school grounds was paired with an afternoon of matches which allowed the girls to try out the new skills they’d learned from the week’s coaching. Hard 
work and persistence paid off as the Dubai teams secured two great results.
Daniel Shields, of Trans World Educational Experiences, was delighted with how much the girls enjoyed themselves while on tour:
“It was brilliant to see so many smiling faces throughout the week. The girls were a credit to themselves and to their school and it was a pleasure to have them with us. I think the players and teachers got a huge amount from the coaching sessions with the professional athletes – they have so much experience to draw on and it was brilliant to watch.”
