The 2023-24 Netball Performance League (NPL) season gets under way this weekend and Team Bath’s age-group squads are hoping to shine once again on the national stage.
All of the teams achieved top-four finishes in their respective leagues last season, with the U21s winning bronze medals for a second successive year.
Team Bath U21 Squad
Seven members of that squad – Scarlett Creasey, Ife Danso, Ellie Gabriel, Amaya Herold, Effie Robinson and Super League training partner Lily Jones – return for the new U21 campaign, which starts against North East Phoenix on Saturday 2nd December at the University of Nottingham (11am centre-pass).
Stepping up from the U19s are Daisy Harrison, Becca Hinkins, Charlotte Steer and Ella Williams, who helped Team England win bronze at this summer’s Commonwealth Youth Games in Trinidad and Tobago.
Defender Harrison, who was named as the national NPL U19 Player of the Year in 2022-23, recently won Europe Netball gold with England U21s and is joined in the Team Bath U21 ranks by fellow Roses player Alanna Pullen. A Sports Performance fresher, Pullen is one of eight University of Bath students in the squad along with Creasey, Hinkins, Jones, Ireland U21 international Orla Lynch, Sophie Murray, Sophie Siffre and Charlotte Watts.
Mikayla Horton completes an exciting 16-strong squad, who will be coached by Academy Head Coach Natalie Roddy and Team Bath Assistant Head Coach Anya Le Monnier. Vicky Carnall is Team Manager.
Team Bath U19 Squad
Team Bath’s U19s also begin their league campaign against Phoenix in Nottingham on Saturday (12.45pm), looking to build on last season’s impressive fourth-placed finish.
Alice Clark, Thea Rhodes and Holly Thompson all return for a second season in this age-group and stepping up from the U17s are Ashleigh Browne, Sascha Dale, Neve Mortimer, Fechi Okafor and Lily Rutland, who was national U17 NPL Player of the Season in 2022-23.
Dale is a member of the England Roses Academy this season, as are Neve Marsden and Sienna Rutherford who join her in the Blue & Gold U19s for the first time, while Rhodes and Ellie Macauley are Wales U19 athletes.
Rutherford and Macauley are both first-year students at the University of Bath, as are fellow squad members Lucy Button and Ronnie Thomas. Charlotte Hogbin, Sope Ilelaboye, Isabel Routh and Amber Tiley complete the squad, who will be coached by Holly Duerden and assistant Layla Slade. Lisa Green is Team Manager.
Team Bath’s U17s begin their NPL South season in March and feature several players who won silver medals last season, with Camille Collins, Ané De Wet, Sophie Lock, Alice Potter, Martha Vujicic and Wales U17 player Millie White all returning.
Coming into the squad, coached by Chantelle Cox and assistant Kerri Bradley, are Lauren Adams, Imogen Baxter, Abi Bingham, Ceci Bower, Rose Bruynseels, Ireland U17 athlete Orla Farrelly, Rhianna Gayle, Georgia Hay, Ruby House, Hope Jordan, Carina Rowe and Nell Smith. Kelly Browne is Team Manager.
Many of the players in the NPL squads are products of the Team Bath Athlete Development Centres (ADCs) based in every county of the South West of England, from Gloucester in the north to Cornwall in the south. Visit netball.teambath.com/futures-pathway to find out more.
With thanks to the Team Bath Press Office
