WEYMOUTH Junior Netball Club’s Tia Chaloner, Millie Hambleton-White and Frankie Harris have been recognised by netball Superleague franchise Severn Stars, with the trio having been contracted to train as part of the Nova Academy, based at the prestigious Millfield School.

Weymouth coach Kelly Browne was quick to praise the girls.

She said: “Each one of the girls has the skillset and commitment to compete at an elite level – their dedication and athleticism is enabling them to perform well at high-level opportunities.”

The Severn Stars Netball Franchise has a clear vision to develop, perform and grow. The franchise was founded in 2016 and has been continually growing in stature and success.

The pathway consists of seven under-17 Nova Academies, plus Under-19 and Under-21 teams.

The Nova Academies are the next step up the pathway from county academies and replace regional performance academies.

Chaloner, Hambleton-White and Harris will visit Millfield twice weekly – once for strengthening and conditioning sessions in the state-of-the-art gym, and the other for a court-based session, led by head coach Jenna Culley.

In addition, they will travel to Gloucester each month for inter-academy match play.

Coach Browne and the athletes also expressed their gratitude to performance pathway coach Louise Bugler, who has housed the girls in her senior club training sessions to give them an extra insight into top-flight sports performance and mental preparation.