With great sadness, we announce that Stephanie Watson has resigned as Performance Programme Lead.

Stephanie has had great success in the role, notwithstanding that it is an extremely demanding one, especially in a volunteering capacity. These successes include establishing four regional academies at U15, the National Academy, DTS, and the ETS pathway.  Regrettably, due to circumstances outside of her control, she has felt it necessary to take the difficult decision to resign.

After more than 20 years of involvement in the sport as a player, coach, and volunteer, Stephanie has made an extraordinary contribution. She can be immensely proud of her achievements, which include:

• Representing her country internationally as a player, coach, and manager.
• Leading the successful campaign for university Korfball to be recognised by BUCS.
• Becoming one of very few female coaches to guide two separate clubs to the National League.
• Establishing the framework and delivery of four regional academies at U15, the National Academy, DTS, and the ETS pathway and expanding the player base so that England were able to compete on the international stage across all age groups.

Stephanie would like to extend her heartfelt thanks to the coaching teams at the Academy, DTS, and the Regional Academies, who continue to work tirelessly to support players to reach their full potential. She also wishes to acknowledge the many incredible support staff — from finance to managers — who, as volunteers, deliver a complete programme across the pathway.

The Board wishes to publicly thank Stephanie for her tireless dedication to the sport and to the Performance Programme. We accept her resignation with sadness and deep gratitude, and we wish her every success in the next chapter of her journey.

The Board will now take time to reflect before announcing the next steps for the Performance Programme. In the meantime, the Board are working with the coaching and support staff to try to ensure that all planned activities can continue.