Oundle School netballer, Sienna Rushton (15) has been selected to go on tour with the U19 England Netball Squad to New Zealand in July.
The highlight of the tour sees the team compete in the 2017 Netball NZ U19 Championships at the ASB Sports Centre, Wellington from 10th -13th July. During the tour the U19’s also take on Beko League opposition, giving many of them their first taste of the New Zealand style of play.
Back in March, Sienna was capped three times as a member of the U17 England National Squad at the Netball Europe Championships, held in Belfast. Considerable victories against Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland saw the England team triumph as European
Sienna‘s netball career outside of School is with her local club Turnford Netball Club. She has represented them at U12, U14 and U16 Regional and National Club level and she is currently playing for their Senior Squad in the England Netball Premier League Division 1. Since joining Oundle in September 2015 as a Sports Scholar, Sienna has also been selected to represent East Midlands Regional Performance Squad and Netball Super League team Wasps at U21 level.
Sienna has had to work extremely hard both with coaches and on her own and is supported by Oundle’s Head of Netball, Bev Burnham with every aspect of her netball training. ‘Technical and Tactical’ netball skills are undertaken with School coaches and a full ‘Strength and Conditioning’ programme is also provided. Sienna has to manage her time with precision to enable her to study as well as train.
Sienna’s journey has not been an easy one as earlier in the year she sustained an ankle injury which has been monitored and nurtured by medical staff both internally and externally. She has to travel to Loughborough University for Regional training, Coventry for Wasps, Sheffield, Bath and many other places for England, and all over the country for her club team matches. This, alongside her study, makes her life at Oundle a very busy one.
Head of Netball, Bev Burnham commented, “Sienna is a fantastic role model to young netball players both in and out of School. She has a positive work ethic which she should be proud of. To have her here at Oundle boosts both the Netball club and the Sports Scholarship programme and we all wish her well.”
Captain of the Oundle School Netball Club and 1st team, Izzy Myers (17) added, “Sienna has been an inspiration to the club and I wish her every success in her future Netball career.”