Celtic Flames, a new netball elite team from Wales are ready to represent the northern hemisphere at New Zealand’s International Super Club competition early next month.
Flames squad members have been announced, along with the Management Team who will lead the newly formed team in their global debut in Nelson from Sunday, July 2 to Friday, July 7.
Wales goal-shooter Chelsea Lewis and defender Nia Jones are included in the team. Lewis, now with Team Bath, and Jones, who has been concentrating on football, are both former Celtic Dragons players.
Flames have a core of Dragons players in their squad. They will play two teams from New Zealand and Fijians Marama Vou in the group stages.
The Super Club competition will be made up of eight teams. The top three New Zealand teams from the ANZ Premiership will qualify for the event plus Flames, Gauteng Jaguars of South Africa, NSWIS of Australia, Marama Vou of Fiji and University of Trinidad & Tobago.
Flames fly to New Zealand this Sunday, June 25, where they will then continue their preparations.
The team name, the ‘Celtic Flames’ was chosen by the team members after much discussion of how they would like to identify themselves during the competition.
“I am looking forward to working with the Celtic Flames – a team with a mix of players with Super League and International experience,” says Head Coach Trish Wilcox.
“We are very excited to be a part of this inaugural Super Club competition and competing against International club teams with such a variety of playing styles.
“This is an amazing opportunity for our players to challenge themselves against some of the best club and international players in the world.”
The Super Club event will be held at the 1662-seat capacity Trafalgar Centre and all games will be broadcast live on SKY Sport 4.
Celtic Flames squad: Suzy Drane (supported by MSG Tours), Bethan Dyke (supported by Torfaen Leisure Trust), Clare Jones (supported by TPHS Limited), Kyra Jones (supported by Glamorgan Telecom), Nia Jones (supported by Chester Chain), Chelsea Lewis (supported by Islwyn Pugh Construction/GW Flooring Contract Services), Kelly Morgan, Lois Rideout (supported by Balance Fitness), Eleanor Roberts (supported by Fostering Matters), and Georgia Rowe (supported by Mike Medics).
The Celtic Flames Management Team include Head Coach Trish Wilcox (supported by Pro Steel Engineering), Assistant Coach Mel Tuckwell (supported by USW Sport), and Team Manager Donna Crossman.
Keep up to date on the Celtic Flames via the Welsh Netball website (welshnetball.co.uk), on Twitter @thecelticflames and Instagram @celticflames.