Welsh Netball announces its Wales senior squad for first match in two years

For the first time in two years, Welsh Netball can announce the 15-strong line-up who will take to the court in Glasgow for a weekend of friendly matches (Friday 20 August – Sunday 22 August).

The squad will be using these games as critical match practice as the team aims to secure qualification for the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham by the deadline of 31 January 2022.

The 15 athletes named in the Wales Senior Squad are:
Georgia Rowe (South East/Severn Stars)
Betsy Creak (Team Bath)
Lydia Hitchings (Team Bath Toucans)
Zoe Matthewman (TFC Leicester/ Loughborough Lightning U21)
Suzy Drane (Team Bath Toucans)
Clare Jones (Hucclecote/Celtic Dragons)
Celyn Emanual (Glamorgan Valleys)
Kyra Jones (Severn Stars)
Shona O’Dwyer (Hucclecote/Celtic Dragons)
Nia Jones (North East/Mold/Severn Stars)
Leila Thomas (South East/Celtic Dragons)
Christina Shaw (South East/Celtic Dragons)
Ella Powell-Davies (Hucclecote NC/Wasps)
Millie Carter (South East/Ystrad Mynach)
Lucy Howells (Celtic Dragons)

The last time the Wales senior squad competed was in the Netball Europe event in 2019. The matches later this month against Scotland and Northern Ireland will take place at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow.

The selected squad features well-established Welsh stars, as well as several exciting young players.

Sara Hale, Head Coach, said of the team announcement: “We are extremely excited to get back onto the match court. Like everyone, it has been an incredibly challenging 18 months, but the team has worked hard on their development off-court, and they are hungry to perform, so we see this as a great opportunity. Now that we’ve been able to reunite as a team, I’m really excited to see what we can do, and I see this as a real opportunity to build some strong foundations over what will be a crucial year for us. It’s a great marker in the sand for us as a group; the combination of big-match experience from some of our existing players, along with the youth and eagerness to show what they can do at senior level from our newer members will stand us in good stead.

“I absolutely believe this team can qualify for the Commonwealth Games next year and subsequently the 2023 Netball World Cup, and we’ll take to the court in Glasgow later this month with determination and positivity.”

Wales takes on Northern Ireland 16:00 on Saturday 21 August, and then Scotland 13:00 on Sunday 22 August. Also, in attendance and representing Wales during the weekend will be Welsh umpire Rhian Edwards.

Match updates will be shared via the Welsh Netball social media channels.