Tiffin
Netball Club was founded in 1930 by Maisie Heath as
Tiffin Old Girls, just four years after the formation
of the All England Women’s Netball Association.
Tiffin is the oldest club in continuous existence
and Maisie gave unstinting service as player, umpire,
secretary and treasurer. The last two posts she held
for nearly fifty years and in 1980 she was the first
recipient of the Muriel McNally Award for her long
service to netball.
In the early decades of the Club’s history,
it belonged to the London Old Girls’ Netball
League and was one of ninety six clubs in 1939. After
the war, for many years the Club fielded two teams;
Tiffin A in the Surrey Netball League (SNL) and Tiffin
B in the Kingston & District Netball League (KDNL).
The
first match was on 15th November 1930 against the BBC
whose home ground was at Motspur Park. There were many
more friendly games in those days including fixtures
against the lending banks at Roehampton and Norbury
and Shell and BP. These matches were enjoyed, not least
for the teas and venues that boasted facilities for
swimming and saunas!
In
the decade 1980-90, the Club grew with regular weekly
training sessions resulting in a much improved standard
of netball reflected in the league results and promotions.
Tiffin fielded four teams; Tiffin A in the Premier B
Division and Tiffin B in Division 4 of the SNL; Tiffin
A in Division 1 and Tiffin B in Division 3 of the KDNL.
The Club however, maintained its friendly reputation
as it entered the 1990’s.
The
past 10 years have been the most successful in the Club’s
long history. Early highlights included the promotion
of Tiffin A to Premier A of the SNL in 1991; winning
the KDNL Knock-out Cup for the first time against Hersham
C; and entering a third team in SNL in 1992. Club members
had coached the teams at training sessions but in July
1994 after a somewhat disappointing 93/94 season, a
new strategy was introduced and an independent coach
was appointed.
The
Club was transformed over the next few seasons to a
successful and highly motivated club. |
