Sarah Evans was one of the founder members of Cirencester Netball Club.

Now her daughter Abbie, 15, is reaping the rewards of mum’s hard work as she makes her way in the sport.

Sarah, who is Cirencester born and bred, told the Local Answer: “I’d just come back from Exeter University and there was nowhere to play netball in Cirencester. I’d always played lots of sport when I was a pupil at Kingshill School, including netball, and I wanted to carry on playing.

“I played for a club in Cheltenham but that didn’t really work out so then I started playing rugby for Minchinhampton.

“I was there for two years and really enjoyed it but I was getting battered every week. By now I was a working as a PE teacher and it was starting to affect me because on some Mondays I could hardly move my arms because I was hurting so much!

“That’s when I decided we needed a netball club in Cirencester.”

That was back in 1996 and the club has hardly looked back since. They now run three adult teams and have a thriving junior set-up.

Sarah, who was also chairman of the club, was a player for many years.

“When we started we were told we had to start at the bottom of the Gloucestershire League,” remembers Sarah. “We began in division six and were undefeated for five seasons as we went all the way through to division one.”

Sarah retired at the end of last season but was persuaded back onto court in the current campaign – a comeback that has since been curtailed by a knee injury.

She does, however, remain heavily involved in the junior set-up where she is head of coaching.

Abbie, a pupil at Kingshill School, is a prominent member among the youth section and also plays adult netball for the club. She won the club’s under-16 coaches’ award last season.

Sarah, a teacher at Bradon Forest School in Purton, said: “She’s not the tallest, like me, but is a good netball player and will do well.

“She started playing when she was nine. I dragged her along to the club and she took to the sport really well and is now part of the county development programme.

“Last season her team were playing in the South West region division two and I was the coach.”

When asked how Abbie takes to being coached by her mum, Sarah laughs before saying: “She’s very honest. We came back from a training session the other day and told me it was really boring!

“She wants to be a PE teacher and she’s a very good critic of mine. She will tell me if I’ve done a good session or not.”

Sarah and her husband Richard have two other other children – Isobel, 16, and Archie 11. Isobel used to play netball but now concentrates on dancing and going to the gym at sixth form Balcarras while Archie plays High 5 at Powell’s Primary School in Cirencester.

Archie also plays rugby for Cirencester under-10s where he is coached by his dad. Cirencester Rugby Club is a stone’s throw from where the family lives and Sarah added: “Sport is a big part of our lives.”