It is a fact that netball has long been a competitive sport in the UK. It was first brought over from the USA where it was designed to be an alternative to basketball for women in 1891 (see our section on the History of Netball for more information). It didn’t take long for its popularity to filter across the Atlantic and by the 1920s, young girls everywhere were playing it. Most women today will remember playing it at school because it has been a staple of physical education programs since the 1920s. However, up until recently there was no competitive competition that encompassed the whole of the UK. There were many local leagues in force, but it took until 2005, over 100 years after it was first invented, for a nationwide league to come into being.

Plans were announced on Tuesday 4th October 2005 by England Netball to launch its very own Super League. England Netball formulated plans to bring about the league as a result of the national side being ranked 4th in the world. There is no doubt that this was an achievement, but England Netball didn’t think that the national side had gone as far as they could go. Countries like Australia made sure that their girls experienced competition week in and week out in preparation for international fixtures, but our English and Welsh netball players only had local competition, which was not good enough in terms of the standard and rigours of international competition.

The Super League was definitely designed to raise the level of quality in England, and so far it has done what it set out to achieve. The national squad won the bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games in 2006 after beating Jamaica. The overall performance was phenomenal and demonstrated that weekly competition had definitely helped to improve the standard of the side, and that was after only two full months of competition!

The Super League began in late October 2005 with eight teams in total playing weekly fixtures, both home and away. The teams are Team Bath, Brunel Hurricanes, Loughborough Lightening, Mavericks, Team Northumbria, Northern Thunder, Celtic Dragons and Leeds Met Carnegie. The inaugural season proved to be extremely popular and thus it was decided that the league would continue. It is now coming to the start of the second season of the Super League and it is proving to be as popular as ever and no doubt the England team will continue to go from strength to strength as a result.

England Under 19s Are Netball Champions Of Europe

The future of netball in England certainly looks bright. Not only do we have some of the best youngsters in Europe coming through the ranks, but we also have the trophy to prove it! The England Under-19s squad won the Netball Europe tournament that was held in Cardiff earlier this month. Whilst our Under-17s and Open squads also did well, this talented young squad overshadowed them.

The squad had to battle their way through four matches to secure victory and did it in style. Not only were the results excellent, but also each individual player gave 100% and showed off her talents in front of the Welsh crowd. Here is a quick rundown of their tournament:

Northern Ireland – The very first game for the girls proved to be their toughest test of the tournament. Northern Ireland looked excellent and really gave them a run for their money. They may indeed be the side to watch for in the future. However, this game was to be England’s in the end. Neither side gained much of an advantage during the game, although England did manage to go ahead by 7 in the early moments of the match. Fantastic defending and counter-attack by Northern Ireland meant that every point was matched in the later stages of the game, but England ultimately merged victors with a 30-27 score line.

Scotland – The squad’s second match was a much more impressive victory with a final score of 36-15. It was obvious that the girls were beginning to get into their stride during the second game. However, the high point of the game was Katy Rose’s 9 goals from 11 attempts. It marked her return from serious injury and she demonstrated the fact that she hadn’t missed a beat and was possibly better than ever. Head coach, Kendra Slawinski, took the opportunity to praise the whole team though, stating:

This was a much better performance. It was a physical game, but our through-court defence and ball movement was particularly good, which saw us through.

Little did she know that it was to get better!

Gibraltar - The squad cruised to victory against Gibraltar, emerging victorious by an impressive margin of 63-10. The earlier matches proved to be warm up games as England really began to get into their stride. Both attack and defence were strong at this point, and England emerged as favourites to take the title… despite having home advantage against them for the final.

Wales – The Cardiff crowd resolutely cheered their girls on, but it was to be England that emerged victorious. The final score was 38-14 as a result of quick-paced end-to-end action that made the game more exciting than any other. England’s defence was outstanding, as was the attack. Captain Emma Lonsdale particularly showed her true colours and led the team gallantly.

The England Under-19s squad thoroughly deserved their victory and looked the best side in the competition by far. Here is to the future, because it definitely looks bright!