The team will be heading to South Africa in June to take part in the event.  It is the first time a British national team has been assembled since a UK Select team played against New Zealand in 1995.

The team includes University students Sophia Candappa, and Jade Forbes Wattley, alongside Loughborough College representatives Jodie Gibson, Rachel Mulloy and Lauren Steadman.

Jordan Moxey has also been selected as a non-travelling reserve.

Loughborough Lightning Head Coach Olivia Murphy said:

“I am delighted for the girls selected, and know that they will all do the country proud at the Championships.

“We have invested in a youthful squad this year, and although our results have not been what we would have hoped for, we have a talented and hard working group of players who fully deserve their selection.”

Great Britain Team Manager Sarah Gandon said:

“This is a very exciting group of young players who have a real chance of having a very successful tournament in Cape Town this summer. Our work will involve getting the team to gel together, and to do that, we have organised participation as GB Universities in the British Invitational Tournament in Glasgow on May 11 – 13.

“This will give us a good understanding of our ability and focus our training. We are looking forward to the competition that the World Universities stage will offer.”

The match started fast with Northumbria taking the lead early on but Lightning stepped up to the plate and fought back within minutes to see the game level at 9 -9 half way through the first quarter. Becky James (GA) and Lianne Badmin (GS) both had their eye on the goal and managed a 100% shooting stat in the first quarter. The defensive trio of Afrika Morris (GK), Nicola Caunt (GD) and Lauren Steadman (WD) put pressure on the Northumbria attack to avoid too many balls passing into the attack but it wasn’t enough to avoid Northumbria taking a two goal lead into the break – 15-17.

In the second quarter both teams went end to end for goals until Nicola Caunt created a turnover opportunity for Lightning and saw Lianne Badmin take them to within one goal in the first three minutes before James added another and Lightning drew level once more. Sophia Candappa forced a number of tips in the centre and defensive thirds, working hard alongside Steadman, Caunt and Morris. Having been asked by coach Olivia Murphy to mark man-to-man in the game the girls showed their quality by ensuring the Northumbria attack could not make the most of the opportunities given to them.

Another successful quarter for the Lightning attack meant James and Candappa could get the crowd going by providing a spectacular linking performance. The score was level in the second half which meant Northumbria retained their two goal lead at 29-31.

A change at GD for Lightning, where Caunt was replaced by Rachel Mulloy, who slotted straight into the defensive trio, successfully forcing a number of Northumbria errors and gaining some tips in the centre court.

The third quarter saw Lightning find something that may have been missing all year as they took the lead almost straight away with Badmin scoring at every opportunity given and James making a number of exceptional movements in the D. Weak passing by Northumbria combined with some very exciting defensive play by Lightning and successful combinations of play in the centre court meant Badmin and James saw a lot of the ball and the quarter ended with Lightning far in the lead at 45-39.

The final quarter saw a change for Northumbria at GK where Sam Holt came on for Leah Kennedy who was making her debut starting performance in the match. Unfazed by this Badmin and James continued to maintain their shooting range which pushed Lightning further ahead until Northumbria found a little extra and came to within three goals of Lightning.

After some superb defence  from Afrika Morris and a bit of hurdling from Becky James Lightning forgot they were playing an equal team and shone through ending the quarter 59-51, a superb score line after a season full of struggle.

Olivia Murphy said ‘the girls performed for each other tonight and rather than letting the ball go they fought back together which made a huge difference.

‘The shooting percentages were fantastic (Badmin – 91%, James – 80%) and they maintained the intensity we’ve been looking for all season. We look forward to going to Wales next week and performing to the same level again.’

In a long season Lightning are really starting to find their feet in the last few games of the season and it is looking promising for the 2012/13 season.

With yet another young starting line-up with “new” regular Lauren Steadman taking the WD position the girls looked primed for a battle of epic proportions against a very experienced Jets side. In the first quarter a number of short snappy passes and quick feet from the Jets players put them 7-4 up early on but Becky James (GA) kept Lightning in the hunt with some pin-point accuracy on goal. Towards the end of the first quarter the varied passes and quick thinking from Yorkshire Jets saw them finish 14-8 ahead but Lightning had been holding their ground quietly and keeping in touch with the flamboyant Jets.

After a quick team talk from Olivia Murphy, the Lightning coach, the Loughborough girls headed back onto court looking fresh and ready to go. A strong start with a run of four goals meant Becky James and Lianne Badmin kept the team within touching distance of the lead but an increase in pace and some rangy shooting from the Jets GS Holly Pearce saw that opportunity pass by.

By the middle of the quarter Badmin and James seemed to get to grips with the Jets defence and had a run of goals taking Lightning back to 17 -23 but at the opposite end of the court the Lightning defence gave away a number of penalties to the on-form Jets attack of Pearce and Rachel Shaw who converted leaving Lightning 19-29 down at the break.

A charity shoot-out between the visiting netball team and a few members of the crowd kept everyone entertained while Lightning’s Rachel Mulloy warmed up to replace Nicola Caunt. Lightning went back onto court starting positively with some clever play between James and Badmin resulting in an early goal.

Both defences worked hard in the third quarter and Steadman and Mulloy kept Lightning going forward. Steadman in particular was attacking every ball and although spending a lot of time on the floor proved a very valuable asset to the team, winning a number of turn overs which in turn lead to goals from Badmin and James. Sadly the tempo was upped by the Yorkshire Jets and by the end of the quarter the score line was out of reach at 26-44.

In the final quarter Olivia Mason replaced Becky James at GA, James then moved to GS and Jordan Moxey was given an opportunity at WA. Again, Lightning started the quarter well but Jets also made a number of changes and the dynamic movement of Alex Kirk at GS combined with a number of penalties given away by Lightning saw the Jets rocket away with the lead.

The final score of 66-29 to the Jets was a shame for Lightning but the girls, as ever, worked hard to stay in touch for most of the game. Olivia Murphy said ‘there were patches that showed the potential of the team but it appears that it is the consistency that is lacking. We are performing the basics well under pressure which is what we have been working on and the defence did what I asked of them tonight which was to apply man-to-man pressure. Sadly the experience of the Jets showed and it is now up to the girls to salvage something from the last two games.’

The next game is on Thursday 3^rd May in the Netball Centre. Tickets available at: http://lboro.ticketline.co.uk/

The ‘new’ rearranged date has been confirmed for Thursday 3rd May, 7.30pm in the Netball Centre.

Tickets will be available soon in the normal place.

Join Lightning for the final home match of the season!

Apologies to anyone planning on attending.

More news as we have it.

The match was cancelled previously when the team were involved in a traffic accident en route to Loughborough.

Tickets are available online now!

It was Lightning’s first home match in the second half of the FIAT Netball Superleague season, which sees them in Tier 2 alongside the Dragons, Yorkshire Jets and Team Northumbria.

With Lauren Steadman making her maiden appearance at WD, Lightning made an impressive start going 6-4 up in the first 5 minutes. Impressive interceptions and turnovers by the Lightning girls gave the game an end to end flow but after the 15 minutes Celtic Dragons had pulled back the lead and created a four goal lead ending the quarter at 11-15.

The second half saw Loughborough Lightning storm out of the starting blocks and netted two goals in as many minutes to go 13-15 back at the Dragons. The Dragons then pulled their four goal lead back followed by 3 minutes of intense play between both teams.

Lauren Steadman showed why she had gained her place in the starting line up with some hard work, quick pace and clever play against her opponent. Jodie Gibson also performed impressively in defence showing why she has been selected to train with the England U21 team.

Afrika Morris (GK) had her work cut out against an in form GS for the Dragons who benefitted from a significant height advantage. Afrika’s hard work meant a number of missed opportunities for the Dragons and Loughborough found themselves keeping pace with them on goals.

Lianne Badmin made the most of the umpires’ decisions and was on sparkling form in the first two quarters, along with Rebecca James who worked hard in the centre and goal thirds for Lightning.

A fast paced third quarter by the Dragons left Lightning on the back foot. An injury to Rebecca James and a blood injury for the Dragons were the only two chances to rest for the girls on court and it went against Loughborough who finished the third quarter at 31-44 behind.

Two changes in the final quarter of Olivia Mason at GA and Nicola Caunt at WD breathed a bit of life back into the team but the Dragons stretched their lead once more early on.

With 11 minutes to go Lightning were behind on 32-47. At this point Michaella McFarlane clashed heavily with her opponent and the team got a chance to catch some air before the final push in the final 10 minutes.

Despite playing some of the best netball throughout the match Loughborough Lightning fell to a defeat of 37-57.

Olivia Murphy, Head Coach of Loughborough Lightning, said:

“It was only when the Celtic Dragons started marking changes that Lightning started to fall behind. The first and second quarters were brilliant and the team stuck to their game plan. The match has shown that the team are improving and they are definitely building up to a good performance soon.”

Loughborough Lightning’s next game is at home against Team Northumbria on Thursday 19^th April.  Tickets are available at:

http://loughboroughlightning.ticketline.co.uk/

Match report by Sophie Thomas

The match takes place in the Netball Centre on the University campus, start time 6pm.  Tickets are still available for the match.

This season after seven rounds of matches the eight Superleague teams are split into two tiers: the top four in Tier 1 and the bottom four in Tier 2, with each side playing their three rivals home and away.

An eliminator will then pit bottom of Tier 1 against top of Tier 2 to decide the semi-finalists as all roads lead to the Superleague Showdown weekend on 19 and 20 May.

Lightning will be looking to stop the Dragons running away with Tier 2, after the Welsh based side won their first two matches.

Lightning are also catching up on their fixtures, after their match against Team Northumbria was cancelled, following a traffic incident involving the visiting side on their way to Loughborough.

The Northumbria fixture has been rescheduled for Thursday 19 April. Lightning are also at home on Saturday 28 April against the Yorkshire Jets.

Tickets are available for all of Lightning’s three home fixtures at:
http://loughboroughlightning.ticketline.co.uk/

They are also joined in the squad by Honor de Winton, who plays for Lightning’s development team in the National Talent League.

England Netball has confirmed the new look squad ahead of the upcoming World Youth Championships to be staged in Glasgow next year.

England will be looking to do better than they did in 2009 at the Cook Islands when they lost out to Australia in the semi-finals.

Jodie has also received her first full England call up for the international series against Barbados in April.

Olivia Murphy, Head Coach at Loughborough Lightning said:

“I am delighted for all of our players that have been selected.  The fact that we have six players in the squad of 22 demonstrates that our investment in young, developing players is working.

“Although our recent results in the Superleague have been disappointing, I am pleased that the hard work that the girls put in week in and week out has been rewarded with their England selections.”

The new look squad recently competed for the first time in an international against Wales U21 team.

Both Sophia and Jodie started the match for England, who were victorious over the Welsh with a 50-39 victory.

Lightning are back in action at home on Saturday 31 March against the Celtic Dragons.  Tickets are available at: http://loughboroughlightning.ticketline.co.uk/

En route to the match here at the Netball Centre, the driver was unable to control the vehicle and head coach Lisa Stanley took the wheel and steered the bus to safety.

“I just acted instinctively – as soon as I realised the driver wasn’t well, I knew that I had to do something or there was going to be a serious accident.

“I did what anyone else would have done and used the brakes to slow the coach down while trying to steer it towards the hard shoulder.

“About five or six of the girls were asleep at the time when the bus hit the barrier.

“They were actually flung from their chairs, whereas those who were awake had managed to brace themselves.

“I was just in adrenaline mode when I grabbed the wheel, but a lot of the girls were screaming around me.

“The bus was doing about 60mph, and some of the speakers overhead fell out because of the impact.

“A fellow member of the coaching staff was actually struck on the head by one of the speakers.

“There are a few girls on the team who are only 17 or 18, so it must have been really scary for them.

“When we finally got off the bus, it dawned on a few of them how close we had come to having an accident, and they just burst into tears.

“I’m just so thankful that none of the girls were hurt.”

The driver of another coach stopped to help and transferred the team to a nearby service station.

Paramedics were called to help the driver of the team coach and he was taken to hospital as a precaution.

Andrew Scott, Director of Stanley Coaches, said the driver, Jim Sheil, was back home with his family and doing well.

“Jim was discharged on Sunday after going through a number of tests which showed no problems with his health.

“He will report to his local GP surgery in the next few days and will be strapped up to a heart monitor for 24 hours.”

Team Northumbria Netball Manager, Heather Steel said: “Lisa is nothing short of a hero – her quick thinking meant that the entire team and support staff managed to walk away without serious injury.

“It doesn’t bear thinking about what could have happened.  Yes, we’re all a bit shocked by our ordeal, but we’re glad we’re alive.”

We wish all the team members a quick recovery, and details of the rearranged match will be posted as soon as we have them.