Kirsty Wingate is a big supporter of netball, a very big supporter.

She plays the game, she umpires and she also works tirelessly as a volunteer administrator.

The 49-year-old took over as chair of Gloucestershire Netball at their AGM in May and she has previously served on the management committee as honorary, league and tournament secretaries.

Throw in the fact that she is also chair of her club Survivors, who have teams in divisions one and two of the Gloucestershire Netball League, and it’s clear to see that netball is a big part of her life.

Wingate, who lives in Hucclecote with her husband Andy, first played netball when she was a pupil at Barnwood Primary School.

She continued to play when she moved on to Ribston Hall High School and she said: “I’m one of those people who is the same height now as they were when they were 10.

“I’m 5ft 5ins so when I was 10 I was a very tall school netballer, but now I’m a very short senior netballer!”

These days Wingate, who is 49, plays for the Survivors’ Division Two team and plays in defence – wing defence, goal defence or goalkeeper.

“I played in the centre for a time but I handed that over to people with younger legs,” she laughed.

Wingate clearly loves anything and everything to do with netball although she did have a break from the game when she left school.

“I didn’t start playing again until I was 25,” she said. “I was working with someone who played netball and she said, ‘You used to play netball, come and join our club’.”

So she did. The team were originally the Post Office and then they reformed as Longlevens Ladies.

She joined Survivors in around 1996/97 and has certainly been an influential figure at the club.

“At one stage I was chair, treasurer and secretary,” she said. “I like to give something back, it’s some flaw in my character!”

Her role as chair of Gloucestershire Netball is obviously a very important one, overseeing all things netball in the county.

That encompasses officiating, coaching, the league itself and the talent pathway, among other things.

It’s a role that Wingate takes very seriously and it’s one that she would be more than happy to do for more than a year if she was asked to continue.

She works full-time as well so clearly Wingate leads a busy life. She describes her husband as a “netball widow” and admits that her Saturdays during the winter season are taken up entirely by the sport.

“I umpire and play,” she said. “I enjoy umpiring and I’ve got to the age where I enjoy umpiring as much as I do playing.”

She trains with her club every Monday as well and much as she enjoys the umpiring she’s not planning on stopping playing any time soon.

So how would she describe herself as a player?

“Old and wise,” she laughed.

And how would she have described herself as a player 20 years ago?

“Enthusiastic but needed refining,” she added, still laughing.

“I’m like all netball players, I’m not going to be much use when I get old because I’ve broken so many fingers. If you play netball it goes with the territory.”