Plenty of positives from tri-tournament
Team Bath Netball head coach Asha Francis says her newlook Super League squad will take plenty of positives from their first pre-season run-out in Saturday’s home tri-tournament.
An 800-strong crowd enjoyed three well-contested games at the Team Bath Arena as the Haines Watts-sponsored Blue & Gold hosted fellow Super League clubs London Pulse and Saracens Mavericks.
It was Pulse who took home the Lyn Gunson Trophy after beating Team Bath 36-26 and Mavericks 40-39, with the hosts finishing runners-up after winning 46-35 in the last round-robin game.
All 12 members of the Team Bath match-day squad got significant court time, with England prodigy Jayda Pechova, Wales Commonwealth Games star Bethan Dyke and New Zealander Ali Wilshier all wearing the Blue & Gold for the first time.
Academy graduate Annie O’rourke made her first senior appearance and also in the squad were returning duo Summer Artman and Kadeen Corbin, Imogen Allison, Lily-may Catling, Betsy Creak, Kirsty Harris, Hannah Passmore and Tash Pavelin.
Francis said: “We are really pleased with what we got out of the weekend. It was brilliant to have so many fans turn out, it made for a great event and an opportunity not only for spectators to enjoy some pre-christmas netball but also for the players to practise in front of the crowds and feel the atmosphere of the Arena.
“It’s always great to test what you’ve practised so far and gauge how that comes out in a game. Everyone got to start a game and it was good to see how well we coped physically, how the players could adapt and change without the use of subs.
“Overall there were lots of positives and lots of areas to keep pushing on, which is exciting as we go into this next block of training.”
Team Bath have one more closed-door friendly before Christmas and will then face Severn Stars, Surrey Storm, Manchester Thunder and Knights Men during January before the 2023 Super League season begins against Loughborough Lightning at Nottingham’s
Motorpoint Arena on Saturday, February 11.
There are eight home games at the Team Bath Arena during the 2023 season, starting against Strathclyde Sirens on Friday, February 24 (7.30pm centre-pass). Season and match-day tickets are on sale now at netball.teambath.com/ tickets.
Team Bath Netball is supported by its Principal and Pathway Partner, chartered accountants Haines Watts; Bath Building Society and Rengen Developments, who are overall Team Bath Partners; Centurion Chartered Financial Planners; Ecus Ltd, environment partner; and PDS Coaching, who provide performance mentoring. Team Bath’s suppliers include O’neills, 2XU and Pulseroll.