Savannah Antoine, 16, from Greenock is the youngest member of Sirens’ squad and is currently a member of Scotland’s under-21 squad.
We’ve got a really full-on few days coming up- tomorrow, we’ve got a home match at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow against Team Northumbria and then on Monday, we’re at home again, this time against league leaders, Loughborough Lightening.
It’s a tough schedule but it’s great to have two home games on the bounce and now that we’re over halfway through the season, we’re getting used to the games coming thick and fast. It’s tough on all of our bodies having such a quick turnaround between matches and the team has had a few injury worries in recent weeks but we’re getting great support to make sure we manage our recovery as effectively as possible.
We had a tough loss against Wasps last Sunday but they’re very stiff opposition- they’re in second place in the Superleague and despite losing, there were some very encouraging signs; Sirens’ first match ever on day one of the season was against Wasps and so the progression the team has made since that first game has been pretty astonishing. We’re so much more comfortable together as a team now and we’ve improved massively at reading what our teammates are going to do so we can anticipate rather than constantly having to be communicating with each other.
I’ve loved seeing the team grow together and for me, being part of Sirens still feels a bit surreal. At just 16, I’m the youngest member of the squad so the experience I’m gaining this season is absolutely invaluable and I really notice my level of play improve week on week.
And when I have any days that I’m feeling a bit down or I’m really knackered- which sometime happens just because our schedule is so hectic- I love that the older, more experienced players go out of their way to pick me up again.
Scotland is hosting the Netball Europe Under-21 Championships in Aberdeen next month.
The team hasn’t been selected yet so I’ve got everything crossed that I’m picked to represent Scotland. It’s brilliant that we’re hosting events like this and hopefully it will help build on the success that Sirens is having in growing the game here. And for me, it would be amazing to play in a major championships on home soil and having gained so much experience in the last few months having been part of Sirens’ squad, I’d love to see how that translates into the international arena.
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