Twelve athletes have been selected for the England U21 netball squad to compete at the World Youth Championships in August, with the clear aim of challenging for top honours.
From the 10th - 20th August 2009, 12 of the country’s best netball players will take part in the biggest competition of their careers as they head to the Cook Islands.
The selection process has been ongoing all year through The Co-operative Netball Superleague, various training camps and tournaments to ensure the strongest combination of players make it into the squad.
With a highly focused team and a strong determination to win, the squad has been building on units and combinations in preparation for any challenge they may face.
Commenting on the squad selection, co-coach Jess Garland said: “Anna Mayes and I believe tremendously in the abilities of the team we have selected. Everything now is about building on what we know and making our strengths even stronger.”
Humidity is going to be between 85 - 90% in the Cook Islands and is a huge factor to be taken into consideration for the England U21 squad. To combat this, the team has been training by the hydro pool at the University of Bath which has a humidity of 70% and will be training in sweat vests for high intensity. The physio and conditioning coach has also been working hard over the last six months planning cooling techniques to stimulate players in the case of over heating.
The team will fly to Auckland, New Zealand on the 31st July for five days to acclimatise, prepare and recover before heading across the date line to the Cook Islands.
Twenty teams will compete over the course of the competition. England will start the competition in a pool with the hosts (Cook Islands), Malaysia, Wales, and Vanuatu, before expecting to proceed through Quarter and semi-finals to the medal matches.
Eboni Beckford-Chambers will captain the team. She commented: “I am really, really honoured to be named captain. Playing for your country is one thing, but being made captain - I am absolutely privileged.”
Commenting on the selections, Nigel Holl, director of netball at England Netball commented: “This is a strong squad that will be ready for a tough challenge in the Cook Islands. I would like to pay credit to everyone that has been involved in the programme up until now - the players who have worked very hard and just missed out on selection, the coaches, families, and supporters around the country who have helped these players get to this point, and the U21 management team and our national selectors who have done a great job in selecting this team - because there were very hard decisions to be made. The squad will go to the Cook Islands full of optimism, and will represent England with enormous pride.”
The selected squad to represent England:
Monique Wood
Jo Harten (vice captain)
Rosie Allison
Kirsty Delves
Ella Clarke
Katy Rose
Serena Guthrie (vice captain)
Sarah Jane O’Sullivan
Stacey Francis
Sam Perry
Lindsay Keable
Eboni Beckford-Chambers (captain)
Management Team:
Jess Garland / Anna Mayes - co-coaches
Helen Fisher - Manager
Karen Hathaway - Doctor
Louise Withnall - Physiotherapist
Anna Davidson - Performance Analyst
Louise Hudson, Sportsister
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