Hana in Year 11 is an extremely passionate and successful netball player who currently plays netball for Kingsway Power, Manchester Thunder performance pathway, and Wales U17 National Academy.
Netball is an important and significant part of her life and something that Queen’s has always supported her with. Here, she blogs about her journey.
Getting started
Hi, I’m Hana! I started playing netball for my local club, Chester at the age of 8, where I captained the team for three of my four years there. Here’s me playing my first game.
In April 2018, I was selected by Queen’s to attend a ‘North West gifted and talented’ day where I met one of Manchester Thunder’s pathway coaches. From here, the next step of my journey began.
I left Chester to join Kingsway Power. The Kingsway team were made up of players who were recognised as some of the best in the North West, and I was excited to join such a talented group. Moving to an elite performance club meant not expecting to play every match, which took a little while to adjust to, but I worked hard in training and secured myself a regular slot in the match day team.
Learning from the professionals
I loved watching and learning from Geva Mentor (I used to practice the ‘Geva Roll’ endlessly), Nia Jones and Serena Guthrie, and love to see that pathway players like Taylor McKevitt and Funmi Fadoju are smashing it, having recently made it to the Netball Super League.
Playing for my club, county, franchise pathway and national academy has meant I have experienced some wonderful moments so far, like playing at the Copper Box Arena winning the England Netball National Cup, playing for a victorious Manchester Thunder in the 2022 School Games, and recently gaining my first CAPS for Wales in the prestigious Netball Europe tournament and winning the Bronze medal.
Not all fun and games
When Covid-19 arrived, it meant we couldn’t train together. This was such a hard period of time for all of us, but for me, not being able to see and train with my teammates, or play matches was incredibly hard, particularly through the winter months where we trained outdoors in the snow and ice.
It’s a big commitment!
I have had to find a way to balance my commitments of homework, studying and revision in the car being the norm. Revision cards are essential! My parents sacrifice a lot to drive me all over the country for training, matches and tournaments but I like that we get to spend time together.
What has netball taught me?
How competitive I am! Also how to work as a team unit, netball is all about teamwork, working together and supporting each other no matter what happens. I love the feeling of being part of a team, and especially love tournament weekends where we spend so much time together, build bonds and win matches!
It’s taught me a lot of the skills you need in sport, you need for school. Hard work, resilience, perseverance, dealing with frustrations, respect for your coaches and teammates, and enjoying the journey. It's taught me how to dig in and work hard when things aren’t going the way I want. Things always turnaround.
The rewards are worth the effort
Hopefully you’ve enjoyed my story, I hope it inspires you as I have been inspired by others. I’ve been lucky enough to win trophies and medals with the teams I’ve played for, and was delighted to win the Esther Smellie Trophy for Outstanding Sports Achievement at the Queen’s Sports Awards last year.
Hana
