England youth international and Loughborough Lightning player Rhea Dixon puts on attacking masterclasses at The Perse School in Cambridge

Pupils at The Perse School in Cambridge were recently put through their paces by an international netball player.

Rhea Dixon, who has represented England at Under-21 level and plays for Loughborough Lightning in the Vitality Superleague, worked on attacking drills with the school's Under-14 and Under-16 players, as well as the players in the first and second teams.

The Perse's assistant director of sport (operations) Emma Jones, who trained Dixon between the ages of 14 to 19 in Surrey Storm’s performance pathway squad, said: “It was fantastic to have Rhea join us for the day and deliver three attacking masterclasses to our pupils.

“Rhea got them thinking about their movement and attacking play and our staff also really benefited from her knowledge, experience and passion.

“It was a brilliant day of netball and we feel very privileged to have a player of Rhea’s calibre spend time with our pupils and pass on her knowledge.

“All our players learned so much about their attacking game and I’m looking forward to seeing them implement it in their future matches.”

Dixon’s visit followed on from the Perse teams taking part in the England Netball Regional Schools Finals at Welwyn Garden City.

The Under-16 and Under-14 teams had both qualified as Cambridgeshire champions and went on to reach the semi-finals at the Regionals, with the Under-16 side finishing third overall and the Under-14 team fourth.

Meanwhile, the first team went into the tournament as Under-18 county runners-up and came seventh overall, winning three matches and losing three.

Mrs Jones added: “The atmosphere was excellent and the work ethic and team spirit from every single Perse player was exceptional.

“I was incredibly proud of all the girls and how they stepped up their game at such a hotly-contested competition.

“We’re looking forward to putting into place everything we’ve learned from the day as we embark on the rest of our regular season.”