Clare (left) and Christina (right) at Welsh training ahead of Netball Europe
Exeter Netballers get Senior Wales Call Up
Current University of Exeter Netball Club 1st team captain Christina Shaw and former 1st team captain Clare Jones have both been selected to represent Wales Seniors at Netball Europe (5th-8th October 2017).
Christina having previously been a member of the Wales U21 long squad in the run up to the World Youth Netball Cup 2017, makes her senior debut for the first time. Representing Team Bath U21 NPL this season and part of the Team Bath Netball Academy, Christina also plays for the University 1st team in BUCS and is an integral part of the Exeter Netball Regional 1 squad. Studying for a degree in BSc Biological Sciences, current Sports Scholar Christina combines her academic study with her netball commitments as a student athlete on our High Performance Programme.
Reflecting on her first senior Welsh call up Christina commented “It’s such an honour to represent Wales at a competition on home soil. This will be my first time wearing the red dress at senior level which makes it all the more special. I look forward to seeing what this team can achieve. The University of Exeter has allowed me to get to where we I am now by continuing to support me with my netball and academics, as an athlete on the High Performance Programme”.
Clare has been a member of the Celtic Dragons long squad and was selected to represent Wales Seniors in their tour of South Africa last year. This year she was part of the Celtic Flames squad who were invited to the New Zealand Super Clubs competition and finished in 5th place and 1st out of the other international invited teams. Having been University of Exeter 1st team captain whilst at University and a member of the Exeter Netball Regional 1 squad, Clare was part of the High Performance Programme throughout her time at Exeter.
On her latest Welsh Senior appearance Clare commented “I’m delighted to be selected for the Welsh Netball Europe Championships. It will be my first experience of a senior Netball Europe competition and I’m so pleased we are the hosting nation-it makes it extra special! Exeter University has been an essential in my netball career. The belief, support and nurture I received whilst at Exeter from all staff and peers was a huge motivating factor to strive to be where I am today. I am looking forward to further exposure at international level and particularly looking forward to lining up with fellow University of Exeter 1st team captain Christina Shaw. It’s true what they say-you never stop bleeding green”.
High Performance Sport Manager Charlotte Hale commented “It’s brilliant to see two University of Exeter netballers representing Wales at senior level and really highlights how far the Netball High Performance Programme has come. With our new Head of Netball Denise Ellis (England U21 assistant coach) and our partnership with Team Bath to host their Exeter based academy we hope to continue to develop netballers capable of competing at Superleague and international level”.
The University of Exeter Netball 1st team kick off their 2017-2018 BUCS campaign on Wednesday 11th October against University of Bristol 2nd team.
Date: 29 September 2017