Calm before the Storm at the Surrey Sports Park
Wednesday 16 September 2009
England Netball today announced that following the restructure of the London and South East Superleague team, the Surrey Sports Park at the University of Surrey will partner the squad for the following two seasons.
Formerly known as Brunel Hurricanes, the new look London and South East side, now the ‘Surrey Storm’ will represent the London & South East region in the Co-operative Netball Superleague.
Paul Clark, Chief Executive of England Netball said, “The Surrey Sports Park is an ideal partner for the London & South East Superleague Franchise, they are very ambitious and we are thrilled that they have stepped in to take over the Franchise”
The multi-million pound Surrey Sports Park, owned by the University of Surrey, is a new state of the art sporting facility which opens in Spring 2010. Managing Director Jason Harborow is excited to be the new driving force behind the London & South East’s number one Co-operative Netball Superleague side. Jason said, “This is going to be a really dynamic partnership for the Surrey Sports Park going forward. We want to create a team that is the best of the best, building on the existing success of the Franchise. Through the Sports Park, Surrey Storm will have access to some of World’s top facilities which will enable them to train and compete to the very best of their ability. I can’t wait to see the team in action on our courts.”
Surrey Storm has wasted no time in making their first appointment. Storm has sealed the signing of new coach and Director of Performance, Mary Beardwood. Mary’s record speaks for itself, haven been the most successful England Coach over the last two decades. In 1998 she coached England to a bronze medal in the Kuala Lumpur Commonwealth Games and in the following year she took the England team to Bronze in the Netball World Championships. Beardwood, from Middlesex stated, “I am very excited about coaching Surrey Storm. This Franchise has a wealth of experience and young talent and I can not wait to start building the foundations for the new season.”
Beardwood is now concentrating all her efforts on forming a new top class coaching team as well as signing key players for the coming season. Trial dates for the Surrey Storm will be announced shortly.
Harborow added, “We know that Storm athletes will get the best support in the Co-operative Netball Superleague and with such a great coaching team on board we are convinced that this year will be the start of something very special. We have the ambition to build a world class team and challenge for the title within the next few years.”
Head coach Beardwood has also previously worked with many of the London & South East’s familiar faces. England Co-Captain Sonia Mkoloma started her netball career aged 14 at Middlesex under the guidance of Beardwood and was part of her 1999 bronze medal winning England squad at the World Championships.