Player Blog
Storm’s Becky Nash loves nothing more than a natter, luckily she’s put the last four months down in words for you our brilliant Surrey Storm fans to enjoy!
Hey Hey Hey!
Well last time you heard from Rach and we were top of the table and the good news is we still are top! Whoop Whoop!!!!
We’ve had 12 games since you last heard from us (sorry it’s been yonks) and 10 of those have been wins. Highlights from these had to be our first home match versus Leeds Carnegie and Hertfordshire Mavericks and of course that Friday night thriller against Team Bath.
Leeds at home was a great match as our previous two matches had been cancelled due to the snow and we were ready and raring to get playing at the spectrum to our awesome crowd. Now I love snow and am the first one out laying in it and building a snowman (especially when it closes my school and I get a day off work!!!) however, I don’t like it when it stops us playing netball and cancels our matches. So when we finally got to step out in front of our home crowd we didn’t want to disappoint them and were please with our score line of 64-29 although we would have liked 70!
Next up was Mavericks, a Monday night sky match and again at home. These mid week games are always a rush for players as you have to be at the venue two hours before the game and with a full time jobs and players coming from all over the country it’s always a little stressful. Personally I am very lucky. I work in a secondary school in Chelmsford called Chelmer Valley High school and they are extremely supportive of me and without this I wouldn’t be able to play for Surrey Storm. Although it takes me at least two hours to get to training or our home games, I am kept company by Gemma Wiseman and Holly Nichols so that helps the journey go a little quicker and stops us falling asleep. Although as a squad we have come to the realisation that you can’t let Gemma drink any fizzy drinks or have any sweets on the way to training as it sends her hyper, she doesn’t stop talking, and it only ends in us having to do sprints!!!
The Friday night thriller versus Team Bath had a lot of hype and publicity going into it for many reasons. Firstly because T, Geva and Rach used to play for them, secondly because of all of the England stars on the court and finally because they hadn’t lost in about 22 months and we were undefeated so far this season. The atmosphere when we were introduced to the sell out crowd, by the X-Factor guy (how cool is that?!?!?) was electric and made the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, we knew this was going to be a good battle and one we were determined to win! Every Storm player committed 100% to every ball and worked until their feet bled (mine literally did). But it was so worth it when that final whistle went and we had won by 3 goals. We were so pleased with the result and patches of our play were what I call ‘Champagne Netball’ and what we had practised in training was put into effective use on the court so all in all a great result.
However, the only negative side to this match was that the kit thief had struck again. T had somehow managed to lose her entire kit, Tash her hoodie and above average sized trackies and all eyes were pointing at the previous culprit…Chrissy. Wiseman was found to have half of Tash’s kit (u got to watch her you know…. Ha ha ha ) and we still don’t know where Tamsin’s went. I think Rachel had the best idea of all, she has taken to just leaving her kit out on court and it gets returned to her washed and ironed at the next game, thanks Emily and Tracy!!!
We then lost our four England girls to the test series, we managed to get along to the O2 and cheer them on – shame about the result but good performances from the Storm girls. In the meantime we had some pretty tough training sessions with Simon our strength and conditioning coach. These are always tough and he works us to our max which at the time is soooo tough but afterwards you always feel the benefits. However, Simon does wear the worst shoes ever, he tries to say they are cutting edge and the latest technology, but honestly they are awful and so not cool!!
Then we had to say goodbye to Sonia and Geva who went gone off to the ANZ to play. We gave them a good send off (Thanks Rhi!!) and then got back down to focusing on the job at hand and the second part of the season. Obviously we knew we were going to miss them on and off the court, they are a huge asset to any team and so we wished them all the luck out there. However, the real strength of Surrey Storm is the depth and quality of our squad. In only 8 months together we have formed a strong bond and an untied commitment and passion to win!
With two new signings; Janet Coulburne and Natalie Seaton our squad has been strengthened in experience and talent. The girls have settled in well and have caught up quickly on our season so far and are a real asset to the squad, our new combinations have got stronger and stronger with each training session and match.
After a disappointing loss against Northern Thunder, we all re-grouped re-focused and were determined to come out of the blocks all cylinders firing against Celtic dragons! This we did leading 41-7 at half time and a final score of 68-29! This enabled us to build on a variety of different combinations whilst beginning to build upon our knowledge and understanding of each other. Another win against Leeds away and a win away in Wales for our re-arranged snow fixture meant we were the first team to guarantee a place in playoff! Although pleased our focus is on the remaining games, as we want to finish first which enables us to play our playoff at our amazing new home venue Surrey Sports Park and in front of our amazing fans!!
Speaking of which please make sure you come along to see the Surrey Sports Park on Saturday when we take on Glasgow Wildcats. We are so excited and have heard there are a few surprises so don't miss out and bring loads of noise!!
On a personal note, I have been so busy with netball that I still don’t have a dj, photographer or cake for my wedding which is in 3 months and 3 weeks away so if anyone wants to help me out that would be great ha ha!!!
Also before I sign off, congrats to our shooter dangerous Dunn for reaching 600 goals this season, a truly amazing tally, only 400 more to go Rach so keep going!
So here goes then…the final part of the season, the role you the fans play is so vital for us, you are by far the best crowd in the whole of the Superleague and your support and encouragement is awesome!!!
Thanks again and take care.
Becky x
