SCOTTISH THISTLES SET TO HOST BARBADOS IN INTERNATIONAL TEST SERIES IN DECEMBER
25th October 2021
Scotland’s national netball team will celebrate their return to Glasgow’s Emirates Arena with an action-packed test series against Barbados in December.
The Scottish Thistles’ two-match clash with the Bajan Gems is expected to be a sell-out as the team enters its first official World Netball ranking contest under new head coach Tamsin Greenway.
The games, which will be played on December 2-3 will be officially announced today to mark the start of Scottish Women and Girls in Sport week.
Greenway, who took the reins in early 2021 with assistant Sara Francis-Bayman joining the coaching team earlier this year, said:
”It has been a huge focus of ours to get greater exposure to nations across the world as we build towards the bigger picture. This is a fantastic opportunity for our players to finally get some test match exposure, under pressure against tough opposition and we really look forward to the challenge.”
Thistles skipper Claire Maxwell said: “I’m incredibly excited to wear the Thistles dress in an official Test and in front of our Thistles Army. Playing for our country and in front of fans is something we will never take for granted.”
Thistles, ranked eighth in the world, take on the 13th ranked Bajan Gems as part of a UK tour by the Caribbean side.
The international series will be the first netball matches back at the Emirates since the Covid pandemic struck.
CEO of Netball Scotland and Strathclyde Sirens, Claire Nelson, said: “The return of International netball to Scotland has been a long time in the making. Being an indoor, team, contact sport we were heavily impacted by the effects of Covid and our national team has lost precious training and playing time in the build-up to next year’s Commonwealth Games.
“This event marks a critical milestone in our recovery and rebuild, both on and off the court. But more importantly, it represents an opportunity to showcase women’s sport and athletes at a time when the country really needs to shine a greater light on them.”
Councillor David McDonald, Chair of Glasgow Life and Depute Leader of Glasgow City Council, said: “As we celebrate Scottish Women and Girls in Sport week, we cannot underestimate the impact which seeing elite female athletes perform in their own home city will have on young women, many of whom missed out on their regular sporting activities during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“With a full capacity crowd expected in the arena, we can’t wait to see the home team hit the court once again, and to wish a warm Glasgow welcome to the Bajan Gems.”
Ahead of Glasgow hosting COP26 this month, Netball Scotland is pleased to announce environmental start-up Carbon Jacked as their Sustainability Partner. They’ll kick off the partnership by working together to calculate and offset the carbon emissions associated with the travel of the Barbados team for the entire series, making their travel carbon neutral.
• Tickets will go on sale Friday 29th October available priced from £12-£18 available here.
