Isle of Man Netball sent two teams to the England Men’s and Mixed Nerball Association nationals recently.

The event was held at Loughborough University and featured 32 teams, totalling more than 400 athletes.

Both Manx squads had some spectacular moments during the event. Despite the men’s team missing out on their first game win, taking some time to get into the game, they managed to compete fearlessly against some of the UK’s strongest competitors to push the opposition.

The weekend culminated in the men winning their final game of the tournament, 22-15 against Henley Hawkes.

Head coach Claire Battye commented: ‘We are really pleased with the squad’s performance at Nationals this year. We have really started to work together as a squad and taken time to understand what it takes to improve our performance; we are already looking forward to our next fixtures.’

The inaugural Isle of Man mixed squad also stepped up to the challenge, enjoying every moment on court together.

Captain Aalish Harris said: ‘Over the course of the weekend, it was great to see how the mixed team gelled and improved as each game went on, whether that be in impact on the court or the bench support.

‘The fight and want to win got stronger with each game, and I’ve no doubt that we left a better team than we started.

‘I’m incredibly proud of the performance and it was so lovely to watch some of our squad get their first opportunity to represent the island at a senior level.’

l To get involved in men’s or mixed netball, training takes place at the NSC on Fridays between 7-8pm. Contact [email protected] for further information.

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