Netball Super League | Good cop Beth Dix relishing new responsibility on and off the court

Beth Dix is over 300 miles from home but the Strathclyde Sirens co-captain feels like an honorary Glaswegian.

Dix is now part of the furniture at the Scottish franchise after her she upped sticks from Bedfordshire three seasons ago.

She became co-captain alongside Emily Nicholl aged just 24 at the start of this term, while a 50^th cap came earlier this month.

Responsibility is the name of the game now for the 25-year-old on and off the court, with her leadership in the dressing room extending onto it, with Dix the standout performer for Sirens this season thanks to her now typical all-action and artful performances at wing attack.

But her influence is not something the relentlessly ambitious Dix has shied away from as she looks to lead Sirens up the table following a season of highs and lows so far this year.

Congratulations Beth on 50 Club Caps for Sirens 👏

AND a well deserved POTM to top it off!!#netball #nsl2023 pic.twitter.com/ylyPjdwlU8

— Strathclyde Sirens (@SirensNetball) May 2, 2023

“I really like the captaincy role,” she said. “I know I am working really hard for this team because I want them to give the same back.

“It has been really new for me, so I have been finding my feet but luckily I have got Emily alongside me who is a bit older and a bit wiser to help.

“Emily has a bit more of the sterner leadership style and I am the other side, kill them with kindness. We have a good cop, bad cop thing going on!”

Dix’s first season in the role has perhaps been made easier by the tight bonds formed by the squad off the court, principally through the medium of coffee and brunch.

It has all added up to Scotland’s biggest city becoming a second home for one of the few English players to make the trip past Hadrian’s Wall.

“Off court, we have such a nice team,” she added. “The whole team is always out for brunch and coffee together, and it’s not forced.

“It is not like I am trying to pull this team together as I am lucky to have a team that are all wanting to work for each other and we have a really great off-court relationship.

“I feel like I have been up here for quite a while, it doesn’t feel like it has only been three seasons. It has been really nice, and 50 caps have gone really quickly. I love it up here, I love Glasgow.”

Reduce, reuse, recycle ♻️@befffdix showing us it’s ok to go back, reset and go again to get the goal 👏#NSL2023 | #GetSomeNet pic.twitter.com/1PYpt5iABL

— Netball Super League (@NetballSL) March 27, 2023

The move across the border has meant plenty of travelling to away matches, with delayed flights and overnight stays a staple for Sirens, but it is this added time together that is perhaps the secret to their chemistry on and off court.

“A lot of people forget that it is very rare that we travel there and back on the same day, usually we travel the day before and stay over,” said Dix. “We are spending full weekends with each other, and maybe that is the reason we are all so close because we have seen each other at our best and our worst.

“The number of flights we’ve had delayed or cancelled, hours in airports, it happens all the time but the team are incredible at dealing with it and just getting on with it; no one ever complains, and people have to be at work on the Monday mornings. It is just part of playing at an elite level.

“I know it is a bit of a sore spot for some of the girls because I feel like every team that comes up has to mention the travel. It is tough to hear week in, week out and for people to use that as an excuse because we do it every week and I don’t think we ever blame the travel.”

However Dix is dealing with it seems to be working, with the wing attack consistently impressing on court, with her name now regularly brought up to be in Roses contention.

Her 430 feeds are the third-most in the Netball Super League, just 23 behind league leader and England captain Nat Metcalf, but the 25-year-old insists she is just focused on putting her best foot forward and helping Sirens finish the season strong after a mixed year that has seen the highs of putting up 71 goals against Saracens Mavericks mixed with the disappointment of letting a six-goal half-time lead slip against Surrey Storm.

💬 “Beth Dix does what Beth Dix does”

The league’s leading feeder makes it look effortless 👌#NSL2023 | #GetSomeNet pic.twitter.com/kKsu1B4ITo

— Netball Super League (@NetballSL) March 17, 2023

“Nat Metcalf is one of my favourite players so to be amongst her is a massive honour,” she said.

“I know I am a bit of a ball hogger! I want to be on the ball a lot and it is nice that I am up there with the feeds but I would definitely take a couple more wins and be further down the leaderboard.

“For me it’s about staying consistent and trying to put out back-to-back performances. I am on the ball a lot as a wing attack and making sure I keep my own errors down and that everyone in that unit is on the same page.

“That has been the trickiest thing for us this season and probably the most frustrating thing as well. Sometimes we play and it clicks and goes our way and other times it is the complete opposite.

“We have got the performances there, because we have done them this season; we have shown we can put out great performances and put up big scorelines it is just getting that consistency.

“It is a positive that we are able to do it, but the best teams are able to do it week in, week out.”

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