AS five-time winners of the Vitality Netball Superleague (VNSL), Team Bath are have been consistently the top of the game when it comes to elite domestic netball in the UK. The franchise boasts a wealth of talent and several experienced names for the 2021 season. After an outstanding opening three rounds in 2020 we can expect them to set the bar high for next year. Draft Central spoke to head coach Anna Stembridge and tenacious defender Layla Guscoth, who has returned to the franchise following a stint with the Adelaide Thunderbirds, about what we can expect to see from the side over the pre-season period and beyond.

“I’m really delighted with the squad,” Stembridge said. “It’s a really great mix of phenomenal athletes but, more important for me, also brilliant characters.”

Bath were granted an extension to their signing period, due to a miscommunication around contracts, and announced their squad a few days after the deadline. The line-up did not disappoint, with big names such as Serena Guthrie and Eboni Usoro-Brown rejoining the side along with Guscoth, and the majority of their 2020 roster remaining intact. The signing period always has it’s difficulties and this year was no exception.

“It’s always going to be challenging because you’ve got athletes that are considering options of not only playing in the UK but then also overseas,” Stembridge said. “Suncorp have a very tight contracting period and I think that enables both players and clubs to know exactly where they are.”

A large number of players, including the likes of Madi Browne and Beth Cobden, have chosen to make the swap from SSN to VNSL this season, and we have also seen Caitlin Bassett and George Fisher transfer to the ANZ. With so much movement between leagues, it would make sense for all the three signing windows to coincide, so that players can make an informed decision about where they choose to play their netball. 

“There might be athletes who are waiting to see if they get called upon for Suncorp, or they might be considering a move within the Superleague,” Stembridge said. “I said it a long time ago in terms of aligning the competitions, looking at the international calendar, and it the last 10 years that has been hugely better.”

Guscoth is among the athletes trading the sunshine in order to be closer to home. Having made the decision to return to the UK, in part to pursue her career as a doctor, the experienced defender is busy adjusting to the move and the challenges that come with it. 

“In Australia, there was no COVID and it was very warm, and now it’s very cold!” Guscoth said. “I’ve been in the England camp for the past couple of weeks and there’s lots of restrictions – it’s very different to what we’re used to.”

After coming back from rupturing her Achilles at the 2019 Netball World Cup, Guscoth wanted to bounce back stronger after her rehab and committed to the Thunderbirds for a second season in 2020. Due to the impact of COVID, this year was an unusual season for all netballers, including Guscoth.

“The pandemic made it hard for family and friends to come over which made it quite different to what it was like the season before” she said. “I always tried over the two seasons to be able to work in Australia, even voluntary stuff, but our visas are so restrictive that you can’t really do anything apart from netball.”

As a qualified doctor, having studied at the University of Oxford and completed her training at University College London, earlier this year Guscoth volunteered to return to the UK and work in a hospital in Birmingham during the first wave of the pandemic. 

“It was a bit of a whirlwind. It was busy, and it was quite tiring and very sad at times, but there were also some better points where people recovered and we got to see them throughout their journey,” Guscoth said.

“I learnt a lot about how to look after people in times where no one really knows what’s going on and managing the panic of that. I was part of a really great hospital and a really good team, and everyone really supported each other.”

Guscoth and the rest of Team Bath are working hard in training to build their connections as a group, and the talented side have got plenty of exciting options in all areas of the court, giving Stembridge some tough choices to make when it comes to match day selection. 

“We’re in a very fortunate position to have so much depth and experience across the board, with Layla playing overseas last year, Ebs being pregnant with Savannah, it meant people like Tash really stepped up and she was phenomenal for us in front of Summer,” Stembridge said. “For me it’s about making sure that during pre-season we’re really clear about the way in which we want to play as a club. Then a second thing is how can we enable partnerships to continue to grow and develop… and then it’s ensuring we’ve got the right unit up against the opposition which we are playing.”

Guscoth echoed this sentiment and said she is looking forward to being back with some familiar faces such as Usoro-Brown, and getting to build connections and play alongside the likes of Summer Artman and Tash Pavelin. 

“I’m realising as I get older that you do change your game depending on who you play with,” Guscoth said. “Playing with Shamera for example was so different to playing with Eboni, so for me I just want to learn what the defenders around me want to do and form the best combinations with them.”

This season is shaping up to be the most highly anticipated year of VNSL to date. The strength and depth of the squads and the quality of imports is giving fans a lot to look forward to. As the situation with COVID-19 in the UK continues, a performance group of VNSL coaches – which includes Stembridge, Karen Greig, Karen Atkinson and Mel Mansfield – are working with England Netball to determine what next season will look like for fans and franchises.

“Over the last couple of week’s I’ve grown in confidence about what England Netball are putting in place,” Stembridge said. “For some clubs and players there will be more travel and disruption to their weekly schedule than other clubs, but I think Jess Rogers and Ian Holloway (England Netball) are working tirelessly behind the scenes to make it happen, and to make the product and the brand as good as it can be, but most importantly putting the player and staff welfare at the heart of it.”

All the teams are currently preparing for pre-season matches, and whilst this will not include the tournament-style events we have seen in previous years, UK fans are optimistic that the games could be streamed online, giving an early glimpse of the new squads for next season. Bath have a busy schedule, and are intending to play Saracens Mavericks and London Pulse before Christmas, and then take on Wasps in the New Year. 

England Netball is yet to confirm whether fans will be allowed in stadiums for any of the games next season, however there was a positive announcement from the UK government earlier this week around spectators for elite sport. The rules that will come into effect on December 2 will allow indoor venues in certain areas across the UK to have a maximum of 1000 spectators, with ticket sales limited to 50 per cent of the total overall venue capacity. However, due to the ever-changing situation of the pandemic, this may not remain the case over the winter and therefore franchisees need to be prepared for a few different scenarios.

“The first step is getting us back on the court and enabling us to showcase the sport, and I know England Netball are working really hard with different platforms and broadcasts to make sure that we’ve got as many of those games shown,” Stembridge said. “The next step will be if it’s safe enough for fans.”

Guscoth echoed the call for matches to become more accessible for all fans. At the moment some games are broadcast on Sky Sports and YouTube but the UK netball community, along with fans from across the globe, all want to be able to access every game, and this exposure would massively benefit the league as a whole. 

“One of the big things for me is streaming and access to the games. I would love to see from this season, especially as it looks like there won’t be crowds in every venue, that we could have a really good streaming service where every game was available for anyone to view.”