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Netball: Superleague raising the national standard, says Yorkshire Jets captain Lauren Potter

Lauren Potter Yorkshire Jets

The Netball Superleague is raising the standard of the sport across the country, says Yorkshire Jets captain Lauren Potter.

The UK's top-level netball league is a little under three weeks away from its 2015 launch, when it will become the inaugral event in Sky Sports' year of women's sport.

Yorkshire Jets are one of eight franchises competing, and their captain has told Sky Sports that the standard of play will be at it highest ever.

"Every year the Superleague is just growing and growing in interest and the standard is attracting quality players from abroad," said Potter.

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"The standard within the country is raising and the really exciting thing with the Superleague these days is that nobody knows who is going to take it, right down to the finals last year, where there was one goal in it.

"It’s really to the wire and that’s what makes Superleague such a special league in the sport."

New faces

More from Netball Superleague 2015

Potter, who has been with Jets for six years, will be joined by two import players this season; Sally Butters, from Australia, and shooter Lottysha Cato, from Grenada.

Lottysha 'Timmy' Cato has signed from Superleague rivals Celtic Dragons and comes with an obvious attribute for the shooting circle.

"We needed some extra shooters and the depth that Nikki [Smith] and of course Timmy – who is 6ft 6ft – have brought in to the shooting end is fantastic," added Potter.

"We’re used to playing with Jo Walker, who is a tall, holding shooter, so some of the girls are used to playing that style. Timmy is maybe the extreme of that but from what I saw last night in training, the girls seem to be finding it really natural.

"Melissa Hyndman, who was the Celtic Dragons coach, has been spending some time with us this week to really coach the style that Timmy is used to play with. I think Anna is hoping to put her mark on it.

"And then obviously Tuaine [Keenan] is coming back to play with me in defence and then we’ve got Sally [Butters] at centre. It’s really added so much depth to the squad; they’re really enthusiastic, friendly girls who are really getting in the mix."

Full-time job

If you compare Superleague netball with other top-end sports very few athletes are having to make the sacrifices and juggle like we do and still find the time to train and compete
Lauren Potter

Despite the growing interest and particpication in Netball in the UK, the sport is struggling to compare financially with the professional  ANZ Championship league in Australia and New Zealand.

Most women playing in the Superleague work full-time or study, and Potter is no exception.The 22-year-old plays for club, Leeds University and in the Superleague, all while studying for a degree in medicine. But despite this busy schedule the Sheffield-born defender has managed to combine her two passions.

"I’m still at Leeds in medical school. I’m currently integrating in another degree - which means you do a whole degree in a year - and that’s Sports Science in relation to medicine. In that I’m doing a big project on netballers and all their injuries. It’s kind of a year of tying my two interests.

"I’m still doing the medicine, but trying to make it a bit more applicable to the netball.

"Athletes in the Superleague - the majority of them - are working or have a degree in something like medicine that is time consuming. You really have to pick yourself up when you turn up to training but it shows how much I want to be doing the netball.

"It would have been an easy choice to have dropped out by now but I love it and I love Jets and it will be a hard decision when I eventually have to choose one or the other.

"If you compare Superleague netball with other top-end sports, very few athletes are having to make the sacrifices and juggle like we do and still find the time to train and compete with athletes and players coming in from abroad who are here just to play.

"You really have to raise your standards to make sure you’re getting that court time and you’re playing games while still trying to be academic. I really think it’s something that should be taken in to consideration.

"At the end of the day, Netball is a clever sport and the academic side of it is reflected on court."

The Netball Superleague kicks off Sky Sports' year of women's sport. You can watch a game from every round of the competition live on Sky Sports. For more information head to www.skysports.com/netball

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