The league, originally known as Buxton & District Netball League, was established in the 1960s at Fairfield Youth Centre in Buxton with the help of local business, Otter Controls. 

The purpose of the league was to enable ladies within the community the opportunity to play netball – school, college and university students weren’t allowed to play as they had other opportunities to play.  

After a number of years as a social league, the competition started to build up and an annual tournament was introduced, the Spa Shield, which is still played every year in May.

The league and tournament were both at Fairfield Centre, with the organiser being a paid member of staff, but, eventually, it became self-sufficient with many ladies volunteering their time over the years.

An Invitation Tournament was introduced and ran for many years; also a knockout tournament started, which became a handicapped competition to help the lower-placed teams to win a trophy.

In the 70s, with the growth of players, a second division was introduced and then, in the 80s, with the acceptance of players in full-time education, a third division was formed.

The league has always been played on a Tuesday. From Fairfield Centre, it moved to Harpur Hill College (later part of the University of Derby), eventually moving to Chapel Leisure Centre, where it is played today.

The league season starts in September, typically ending in May/June. Over the summer, we run pay-and-play sessions on the outdoor courts. For many years, run at Buxton Community School, these too are now run at Chapel Leisure Centre. These are a good opportunity for those wanting to play in the league to find a team. Back to Netball sessions have also been run for many years, an opportunity for those who can’t commit to playing in a team to have the chance the play, or to build up their skill level before joining the league.

In 2007, a Junior section was formed, and the name changed to High Peak Netball Club, and we started running Walking Netball sessions in September 2019. So, the age range now for High Peak Netball is 7 to 70+. Our oldest recorded participant (at Walking Netball) is 87!

The Club also enjoys fun presentation nights, one for Juniors and one for the league. Different teams organise the league night each year, always a different theme. Over the years, we’ve had a race night, rounders, bingo, quiz, an inflatable obstacle course, a treasure hunt and Team Taskmaster, to name a few.  Always a good night out.

The Club is run by a committee, with roles covering chair and vice-chair, safeguarding, umpiring, juniors, adults, admin, tournaments, social, finances, data protection, the website plus general members.

If you’d like to get involved with any of our activities, please get in touch! New players, coaches, umpires and organisers are always welcome.