Janice Spicer, a lifelong netballer, now Walking Netball host from Letchworth, Hertfordshire, celebrated her 80th birthday on 12th February 2025. Janice started playing school netball at age 8 as GA/GS and was captain through junior school. She then went to Hitchin High School and was House and Netball captain playing GA/GS winning lots of awards for netball.
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When she left school she joined a company who had a netball team and played for them until she left to have a baby. When Janice was 24, and her daughter only 3 months old, Janice then helped to start up a new netball team in her village of Clifton in the Bedfordshire league playing GS. Janice remembers they even made their own netball kit!
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She then moved to Letchworth but carried on playing GS for Clifton in the 1st Division and Premier for a few years. She also joined Greene King in Stevenage league until her mid 50’s and then joined Almar Fresh in Biggleswade as GS until her early 60’s.
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Her very last match was as a guest for another team and they won with Janice not missing a goal - so she finished her league netball on a high. Janice then took a short break from netball, but with the introduction of a new Walking Netball group in Baldock in 2015, established by Hertfordshire Netball Development Officer, Rebecca Booth (Nee Gray), Janice found a new way to play the game she adores, now aged 70.
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In 2022, Janice completed the England Netball Walking Netball Host Training, along with former teammate and close friend Barbara Wilding. Since this time, Janice and Barbara have been leading a Walking Netball group in North Hertfordshire to deliver fun, inclusive and engaging Walking Netball sessions to women in the local area.
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Janice has always a very busy lady with a big family and lots of other hobbies including dancing, flower arranging, gardening and cake making. Janice says ‘The passion for netball has been with me since I starting playing at eight years for Junior School. Now at a grand age I am thrilled to be a Community Coach’. Janice’s granddaughter, Imogen Spicer age 14 now trains with the London Pulse hub, so is clearly following in her grandmother’s footsteps!
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Enjoy all you celebrations Janice, thank you for everything you’ve done, and continue to do, to contribute to Netball in Herts & Beds!
