Netball Super League | Panagarry to captain Loughborough Lightning in 2017

Loughborough Lightning Netball have today unveiled that Natalie Panagarry will take up the captaincy role for the forthcoming Vitality Netball Superleague season.

Read below for the full Lightning press release:

Panagarry, who is in her second season with Lightning, will also head up a leadership team of three other players, Beth Cobden, Jo Trip and Vanessa Walker. Trip, Cobden and Walker will work with Panagarry and take a lead in the defensive, centre and attacking areas of the court.

On her decision to hand the centre court player the captaincy role, Head Coach Karen Atkinson said:

“It was a no-brainer for Nat to be appointed as captain for the 2017 Season. She was an integral part of our squad last year both on and off the court. Her work rate during matches and in training is second to none and she sets a fantastic example to the rest of the squad. I also love her no-nonsense attitude to performance sport, which she manages to achieve whilst maintaining a positive outlook and approachability.

“Jo, Beth and Vanessa all bring their own unique leadership qualities to the group. They have a wealth of experience between them both within the NSL and internationally, and I have no doubt they will support Nat well both on and off the court.”

Of the announcement, Panagarry commented:

“I feel extremely privileged to have been given the captaincy role this season by Karen and Liv. This will be my second season playing for Loughborough Lightning and the club is one I’ve always admired due to its history and great fan base.

“This season we have a lot of talent in the squad, with a mixture of experience and youth. I’m really looking forward to the upcoming pre-season fixtures and getting the opportunity to compete against teams before the season begins. We can really put into practice all our hard work at training at the moment.

“The Superleague season is going to be very exciting this year; we have new franchises involved and had lots of player movement within the league. But our aim will be to get into that top four and to reach the final. I’m looking forward to leading the girls onto the court in front of our home crowd in February and getting the season under way.”

Lightning are back in action in January, when they take on England U21s on Saturday 14^th January. Tickets are now on sale here: http://loughboroughsport.com/loughborough-lightning/fixturesandresults/