Talent, dedication and the support of devoted parents have helped a schoolgirl gain Welsh honours for a second consecutive year.
Evie, in Year 12 at Haberdashers’ Monmouth School for Girls, has successfully gained a place in the U17 Welsh Netball Squad.
Having survived gruelling trials against 50 other hopefuls, Evie has been included in the U17 long squad comprised of 21 girls.
The rising star, who belongs to the School’s 1st team, Newport Netball club and South East Wales County Netball, dedicates at least six hours each week to her netball programme.
“It is a lot of training,” She said.
“On a Wednesday I train with HMSG from 4pm until 5.30pm and then go straight to Newport for a session at 7pm. It is a lot but I really enjoy it.
“My parents drive me everywhere, they’re so devoted. Each day this week I have needed them to get me to one training session or another.”
Last year, Evie was one of 12 girls selected to represent Wales U17 in the European Netball Championships.
Unfortunately, she suffered from an illness in the week leading up to the event and was unable to play in the tournament.
“It was really gutting,” She added.
“I would attempt to warm up before the game, but felt terrible and never got to play.”
The European Championships will be held in Gibraltar in March 2016 and Evie hopes to be successful in the selection again.
“We have some training sessions together before Christmas and then the squad will be reduced ready for Netball Europe,” She said.
“It would be amazing to get the chance to be part of the tournament again.”
Evie plays as Goal Attack, one of the two shooting positions in netball.
She was very grateful to HMSG’s “supportive” netball coach, Caroline Jones, for opening up the sports hall over half term so that she could get some extra shooting practice in before the trials.
Mrs Jones said: “Evie is so talented. She is a pleasure to watch and makes scoring goals look so easy.”
HMSG has three netball teams playing in the Wye Valley League, with over 30 girls taking to the court to represent the School each week.
On Tuesday, November 3, all three teams achieved convincing wins over local sides.
“What a night of netball it was,” Mrs Jones added.
Trish Wilcox, Head of Elite Performance at Welsh Netball, said: “I am very excited about the potential displayed at trials, and it is exciting to see what these young women can achieve in the future.”
Evie is a fantastic role model for the sport, which is becoming increasingly popular and successful at HMSG.
We wish her the best of luck for the forthcoming training sessions and hope to see her wearing the red dress in Gibraltar.
