Cheadle Hulme School and AO Thunder have announced a new Netball Performance Partnership, bringing together specialist coaching expertise, outstanding school netball provision and high-quality facilities to create more opportunities for young netballers.
The partnership will see AO Thunder work alongside the CHS coaching team to enhance the School’s established netball programme, helping talented students develop their sporting potential alongside their academic education.
It comes at an exciting time for netball at CHS. The School’s U16s were crowned England Netball National Champions in 2026 and secured a fourth consecutive Sisters in Sport national title. The Senior 1st team also celebrated national success by winning the U18 National Plate.
Supporting ambitious young athletes
Through the partnership, CHS players will benefit from access to specialist coaching and athlete development expertise.
Leanne Thomas, Head of Netball at CHS and a former Wales international and Commonwealth Games athlete, said: “Our players are ambitious and we want the environment around them to match that ambition. Success in competition is important, but developing young athletes is about much more than what happens on match day.
Working alongside Thunder will allow us to give players greater access to specialist coaching, performance support and mentoring, while continuing to provide the academic support and wider school experience that is so important at this age.”
Creating opportunities across the North West
CHS will also become a host venue for AO Thunder’s own Player Development Programme (PDP) and Trailblazer programmes in Greater Manchester, providing access to the School’s courts, strength and conditioning facilities and other sporting spaces.
This forms part of Thunder’s wider education partnership strategy, which aims to establish PDP and Trailblazer provision in every county across the North West, bringing development opportunities closer to young players’ local communities.
Gill Porter, Commercial Director at AO Thunder, said: “We’re delighted to welcome Cheadle Hulme School as an education partner and build on the fantastic netball provision they already have in place. Education partnerships are an important part of our wider development strategy, allowing us to work with organisations that share our ambition to create more opportunities for young people through netball”
The partnership builds on CHS’s national success while supporting a shared ambition to help more young people develop, enjoy and progress in netball.
To find out more or to apply for the Netball Performance Partnership, click here.
