Netball Sports

UoG Netball Club Captain Olivia Henry-Thrussell reflects on an “impressive” start to the season

The University of Gloucestershire’s netball club captain Olivia Henry-Thrussell has reflected on the first half of the 2021/22 season, revealing that “all four teams are doing well”, while the first-team “are just a whole other level.”

Henry-Thrussell, who succeeded Charlotte Hepburn as club captain in September 2021, spoke exclusively to ParkLife Sport about the University of Gloucestershire (UoG) Netball’s campaign so far, with the season set to restart at the end of January.

“So this season all four teams are doing well, especially our 4’s. They are second in their league, and hopefully if they can get top spot they could potentially be promoted, which would be really, really exciting.”

Olivia Henry-Thrussell

The fourth team are just three points off top spot in the Western Tier 6, with AECC University College currently sitting pretty in first, with a game in hand. With captain Meg White at the helm, the fourth team have had several players being promoted into higher teams, yet are the best-performing UoG Netball side, in regards to league position.

While performance on the court is the most important thing, Henry-Thrussell also revealed that player movement between teams was something she was keen on implementing upon being named club captain, and it’s something that has fluently occurred between the second and third team. 

There’s been quite a lot of movement between 2’s and 3’s, which was something that, as club captain, I’ve said from the start. Just because you get put in a team at the start of the year, it doesn’t mean that you’re in that team for the whole year due to fitness, injuries, ability, or a bad performance on the day of your trials. So, we have had a massive re-shuffle through the teams, which has affected the 3’s ultimately.”

Despite both teams sitting fourth in their respective leagues, Henry-Thrussell, herself a goal shooter or goal attacker for the third team, is happy with the progress they’ve made. 

The 3’s and 2’s are both doing really well as well. 2’s are in a different league to what they’ve played in previous years, they’ve dropped down, and they are doing well to be in there. They normally have a curse. They used to call it the ‘2’s curse’ and they’d only win one game a year. But, they’ve done really, really well, considering the ‘2’s curse’, which they have clearly broken.

The 3’s are a really good, fun team. They’ve had quite a few of their players injured and then again, like I said a minute ago, they’ve had players move up. They’ve got some young players in there, in the earlier years, who are doing really well, and then they’ve had players called up from the 4’s.

The teams haven’t been consistent in their players, in the sense of there’s been movement, and for where they are in their league, I think that’s really, really impressive.”

With four teams competing in British University and College Sport (BUCS), netball is one of the biggest clubs at UoG, and their first team is one of very few who have a team competing in the Premier Division. It’s a fact that Henry-Thrussell is proud of.

The 1’s are in Prem [the Premier division], they are just a whole other level. I love it when the whole club gets to watch them, because the level that they play at, and the players they’ve got in their team is just something else. We are one of the clubs that have a team in Prem, and we really need to stick it out. We need to stay there.”

The first team currently sit fourth, but they’ve crucially played the fewest games in the entire division, so although survival is the goal for the season, a push towards the upper echelons of the table is certainly on the cards.

The club has also been boosted by the addition of new head coach Melissa Bessell, who will pair her duties as Severn Stars head coach with taking charge of the UoG first-team. An experienced head at the helm is exactly what the team needs according to Henry-Thrussell.

Getting Melissa on board for the rest of this season, I really think it will push them to be able to get that far and be able to stay in the Prem for next season. Melissa is great, she came to a few sessions before Christmas and a couple of their games, and it just showed the difference of having her there on the sidelines, coaching, and watching.

Her relationship with the VNSL (Vitality Netball Superleague) players that are in the first team, and the NPL (Netball Performance League) girls is obvious. They get her, they understand her, they know what she wants from them.”

UoG’s Cam Brown, Charlie Herdman-Vaughan, Chloe Carchrie, Milly Pittaway, Hannah Kimber and Tia Davies are all part of the Severn Stars U21 squad, and hence already have the knowledge of playing at such a high level.

The 1’s are just fabulous, and they’re great fun, they know what they’re doing,“ Henry-Thrussell said. “They push the 2’s to work hard as well, and the 2’s push them to be just as competitive

I’m having positive vibes about the rest of the season, and the last few games that all the teams have. The 1’s finish BUCS at the end of this month, and then they start their cup, so fingers crossed Melissa and the girls can carry themselves to a good cup run, and then we’re obviously got Varsity which is super exciting to have Melissa on board for that.”

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