The Scottish franchise are building towards the new Vitality Netball Superleague season, which starts in February 2021; they have also just announced a new apparel partnership with the global sportswear brand Nike
Tuesday 8 December 2020 06:25, UK
"At Sirens, we don’t really bang our own drum often enough about the quality of the full-time programme that we have in Scotland."
When Karen Atkinson stepped into role as Strathclyde Sirens' technical director, she was clear about the aims and objectives that she'd be working towards.
Everything centred around harnessing the huge potential that the franchise has, due to their high-class facilities, and the talented athletes they have in their ranks.
If Sirens' and Scotland's netball ambitions weren't clear enough, their developments over the last 12 months tell you everything that you need to know.
Atkinson's appointment as director of netball started the ball rolling and it was followed by Tamsin Greenway moving into the role of the Scottish Thistles' head coach.
Despite Covid-19 pulling the rug from underneath netball, Sirens continued to forge meaningful partnerships for their athletes and supporters, as well as launching an innovative fan app.
A short time ago, another piece of the puzzle was put in place, as Nike became Sirens' and Netball Scotland's official kit supplier.
To be able to work with such a globally iconic and industry leading brand such as Nike, will empower us further as we embark on our new journey of growth and development. I have no doubts that they will be an incredible partner for netball in Scotland.
For Atkinson, Sirens' head coach Lesley MacDonald and assistant coach Claire Maxwell, the 2020 season didn't pan out as they'd planned.
"It was my first year and season as technical director and it was Lesley's first as head coach," Atkinson said to Sky Sports.
"We'd really overhaled the programme and looked at what needed to be done, in order to make some serious improvements on the court.
"It was a quality pre-season programme and we'd brought in specialists like Sue Gaudion and Vicki Wilson, who had a massive impact and made the players so excited.
"We were definitely on an upward trajectory and then it all just stopped.
"I've heard people using the words unfinished business and I think for us, it was more about the fact that we were starting to get close to the potential that we have in Scotland. Then, to have a massive break, just wasn't really ideal."
The potential Sirens and the Scottish Thistles have is something that Atkinson feels some people forget.
At Sirens, we don’t really bang our own drum often enough about the quality of the full-time programme that we have in Scotland.
"I've read about Dan Ryan talking about Leeds Rhinos Netball having the first full-time high-performance programme there… well it's been in Glasgow for Sirens for a number of years, we're just refining it and improving it," she added.
"We have a full-time programme with all of the facilities and all of the staff that's required.
"I would put money on it being the best in the league currently, a lot of the teams are moving in that direction but because we don't shout about it at a lot at Sirens, it gets overlooked.
"It's what attracted me to the job, in terms of the amount of potential that they had to work with and it just needed to be filtered down to the athletes in the right way, to make them the best they can be."
With Claire Nelson as Sirens' and Netball Scotland's CEO, the franchise and national side have a dynamic and innovative leader at the very top. Her ambition fuels and aids the work of Atkinson, MacDonald, Maxwell and Greenway at Sirens and the Thistles.
As a quartet they all have an abundance of experience within the sport and the duo guiding the programmes - Atkinson and Greenway - know exactly what elements need to be in place.
"Sirens is an exciting, forward-thinking franchise. They've not always had the results on the court but everything that's happening off the court is all geared towards those results changing," Atkinson said.
"The players just need to start building confidence, still developing their technical and tactical skillset, but also getting that exposure to competition.
"There's less exposure to competition for Scottish players, so we need to build that for them across the season. We know that we need to create a better pathway so that players, when they reach Sirens, are ready.
"Scotland has all of the elements required, through the national programme or the Superleague programme, it's just making the best use of that. For me, that's an incredibly exciting puzzle to put together."
As Atkinson, Greenway and Nelson continue to put the puzzle pieces in place, alongside MacDonald and Maxwell, they all have a pressing engagement with some late player recruitment.
In early November, it was announced that Zanele Vimbela had suffered a serious knee injury - a ruptured anterior cruciate knee ligament - during the TNL tournament in South Africa
There was also the happier news that Maxwell is pregnant, so will move into a pure coaching role for the 2021 season.
"We're all devastated for Zan, she was a brilliant addition to our team on and off the court," Atkinson said.
"It does show you that players need gradual preparation and time before they get back on the court. I think that will have played a part in this, which is what makes it even more sad from my perspective.
"She'll remain in close communication with us, but we do need to look for another GK to be part of the squad. We will be recruiting from overseas and will hopefully be able to announce her replacement in the coming weeks."
In terms of replacing Maxwell, Atkinson noted that Sirens already have good depth within their mid-court so this potentially represents a chance for others to step up, including Taylor Cullen.
"I'm a big fan of Taylor's, I think that she's got a lot of potential to be a really, really good Superleague player," Atkinson said.
"She's from Manchester Thunder originally and they're so strong with their pathway and bringing young players through, that it's often difficult to get a shot there.
"She's sat behind a lot of quality players in her time and hopefully she can stick her hand up and produce performances that I know she's capable of."
While the recruitment continues, having been given special dispensation from the Vitality Netball Superleague to sign outside of the allocated window, Sirens' players are already putting in the hard yards on court.
Due to Scotland's protocols regarding Covid-19, Atkinson shared that training had to build up extremely slowly before reaching the significant marker of contested match play between groups.
"It was fantastic (to compete again)," she added. "We feel so grateful to be able to continue to work together.
"Since returning, I think the biggest thing that I've noticed is that players, although they loved their netball anyway, have an even greater appreciation of what it brings to their lives.
"They all have an even greater feeling of how much they want to play and need it. I can't wait to hopefully get a full season back and for us to show what we're about as a franchise and a programme."
