The new Loughborough Lightning squad was selected on the 12th December. With new faces in each area of the court: including previous Northumbria players Liv Mason and Jenni Montgomery and England excel players Jordan Moxey, Jodie Gibson and Rachel Mulloy. We’re looking forward to an exciting season with some very talented young players!
We took the opportunity to do some team bonding activities which included leading a blind-folded partner around a room full of obstacles and only being able to verbally instruct them. It was a great chance to get to know each other better!
As a squad we had a run out at the Cathedral City Fastnet Northern Conference. Fastnet is an exciting and new adaptation of netball, and it was a good opportunity to play together as a squad in different combinations and against the other Superleague sides ahead of the new season.
On Saturday 21st January Lightning took to the court against Northumbria, after what feels like a never-ending pre season (4months!). It was great to finally start playing netball competitively and to put everything we had been learning into practice. Lightning took a very strong lead, winning the first quarter 18-8. In the second half of the game changes were made for both sides, and Northumbria made a brief resurgence. But not for long, we stuck together and fought hard for the 49 – 44 win.
Jodie Gibson made some exceptional interceptions in the last quarter; but Liv (Murphy) made sure to acknowledge the rest of the team for applying good pressure to our opponents, which allowed Jodie to make such great plays, so it was a massive team effort. It was really pleasing to get our first win of the season, however we are all aware that there is still a lot to work on and a lot more potential in a talented squad.
You may have noticed some of our players doing a conditioning session after the game; as a squad we decided that players who play a quarter or less would take part in this short session. It allows those who didn’t get much court time a chance to get fitter and therefore a better chance for selection next time. I believe in the saying ‘a team is only strong as its bench’ and we look to develop as much strength in depth as possible.
At the end of August I was selected into the England Netball national long squad for their upcoming tour to Australia and New Zealand. The tour was three weeks long, and we had two tests against New Zealand and three against Australia. It was an amazing opportunity for me to develop. I learnt a great deal not only about the top two teams in the world, but what it takes to become an international netball player and the best in the world. I received my first cap against Australia, I was extremely nervous but my teammates really supported me in my first international game and I really enjoyed the experience. The biggest learning curve was how much faster the game is over there, so if I was to give any young and upcoming player one piece of advice it is to take every opportunity to challenge yourself on and off the court in training.
I look forward to seeing all our Loughborough Lightning supporters at our next home game against Northern Thunder on the 4th February!
Sophia
