By: Kim Commane

Pre-season, it’s here. Teams are finally starting to take shape and Team Bath are no exception to that.

With our fourteenth player finally in the country, exciting young South African centre Khanyisa Chawane, we had only one session with our full squad before The BiG Showdown – a two-day, 16-game pre-season tournament hosted by Team Bath and featuring fellow Superleague sides Saracens Mavericks, Severn Stars, Strathclyde Sirens and Surrey Storm as well as Knights, the UK’s leading men’s netball team.

Finally, a chance to actually play and see where we’re at. Personally I was buzzing to have a run around with my teammates – the idea of continuing to build on last season’s combos and exposing fresh new ones got me giddy! 

With the Superleague going from 12 to 10 players on the game-day bench, coaches for all teams needed to be extra careful with player selection so naturally we had multiple rotations of tens throughout the weekend, as did the other teams. 

To describe the netball over the whole weekend in a few words, I’d have to say it was ‘slick, fast and exciting!’ To think that the standard of netball was that high in the first set of pre-season games is electrifying. True, some teams and combos have been together for a few seasons now but it’s just a small snippet of what’s to come for the season ahead.

Here’s a quick run down of the teams…

Mavericks were nothing less than impressive. The court craft and fast-pace ball movement was thrilling to watch and deservingly won the tournament. They’ll be a team to watch in 2020! 

Severn Stars were slightly depleted over the weekend due to sickness, injuries and unavailability but nonetheless they were still a solid team that pushed teams right to the very end. Not to mention they have exciting young talent coming through! 

Surrey Storm are always top competitors and are never to be taken lightly. Again missing a player here and there, they still displayed some top-notch netball – another promising year ahead for them.

Sirens are always a tough team to play against. They’re the kind of team that never goes away and constantly breathe down your neck. They also have a strong physical presence on court.

To have the Knights involved in this tournament was absolutely brilliant. These men travel from all over the UK to play Superleague teams throughout the season, which is greatly appreciated by all the franchises. The way in which they play is so explosive and compelling, the crowd loved every moment of their athleticism.

My Team Bath ladies, where to start? The versatility of being able to play against different styles of netball very much impressed me, not to mention the ability to win ball all over the court. Our attacking connections are also going to be something to watch in the 2020 season.

We fell slightly short of our goals last season but don’t you worry, Team Bath are ready to tackle anything that comes our way in the new year!

Find out more about Team Bath Netball at netball.teambath.com.

Author’s bio: Kim Commane is a talented goal shooter is in her second season with Team Bath after spending time with the Melbourne Vixens in the Suncorp Super Netball. Commane also played with the Hawks in the Victorian Netball League along with Vic Fury in the Australian Netball League (ANL) highlighting how much experience and class she has over a host of leagues.