London Pulse’s Superleague campaign begins on Saturday with a trip to the Arena Birmingham to play Strathclyde Sirens.
Having endured a challenging debut season in the Superleague last season which ended with Pulse winning just two of their 16 games, fans will be hoping major changes to the squad and coaching staff will be the spark that ignites a successful second season.
Experience
Samantha Bird has joined as Director of Netball, having left her role as head coach of the Severn Stars at the end of last season and brings with her a wealth of experience having coached in the Superleague since its inception, after forging a successful playing career which saw her represent England at every age group.
Speaking to Sky Sports, Bird revealed her ambitious plans for the club ahead of the new season:
“[CEO Natalie Seaton and I] are very keen for London Pulse to be one of the best clubs in the country. That’s tough when you’re a new club, so it’s really important that you recruit the right type of personnel – players who are going to take that ambition on.”
Excited
Bird has wasted no time in making wholesale changes to last season’s squad, with only Chiara Semple and Olivia Tchine retaining their places from the 2019 squad. Pulse fans will be particularly excited to see the South-African capped, Sigrid Burger at the Copper Box. The shooter joins Pulse from Surrey Storm, where she played the previous two seasons and fans can expect an unwavering accuracy under the net.
Other eye-catching additions include the former Saracens Maverick pair, Michelle Drayne and Lindsay Keable. Drayne will bring an abundance of experience in the mid court, whilst Pulse will be enthusiastic that Keable will bring some much-required solidity to the defensive unit.
Bird also outlined her vision for Pulse and has told the fans to expect an “exciting” team at the Copper Box ahead of the new season:
‘Proud’
“I think that it’s really important for London Pulse to have a really strong culture and philosophy about women being proud to play sport in London and having really good role models in London,” Bird told Sky Sports. “Pulse reflects London in that it’s a very diverse team. We want to be a very exciting team, we want to play with a lot of style but be driven about performance.”
Saturday’s fixture will pair two of last season’s strugglers with Sirens only managing three wins themselves last season and both teams will see Saturday as the ideal opportunity to start their season with a victory.
Image courtesy of London Sirens Twitter account. @Pulse_Netball
