Collaboration is essential to any team sport, even more so at a high level. This quality is underpinned by Cambridge Ladies’ Netball Club (CULNC) co-captains Nat McEvoy, a second year Engineer, and Izzy Howse, a fourth year Earth Scientist. I sat down with the pair to discuss playing for professional franchises and last-ditch victories against Oxford.

“I’d love to play Super League Netball post-Cambridge, but whether I get there is another question…”

What is your Netball background?

Nat: I first started playing netball in year four when I went to a camp with my older sister, who played goal defence. When they made everyone line up in their respective positions, I just stood with my sister because I had no idea what was going on. From that point on, I have always played goal defence or goalkeeper. As a younger teenager, the coaches tried to push me out to wing defence as I was a late bloomer, but now that I’m 5′11", I believe I suit my position! I used to play for Surrey Storm and had the opportunity to trial for England after GCSEs, but I stopped playing franchise during sixth form to focus on my academics.

Izzy: I went to school in Leeds, where I played for the Leeds Rhinos netball franchise prior to starting university. I play centre and wing defence. In the past, I have represented England at U19 level, where I predominantly played wing defence, but I moved to centre when I started competing in Next Gen [English netball’s second division] for London Mavericks. I’d love to play Super League Netball [the top tier] post-Cambridge, but whether I get there is another question…

Who is your favourite Netball player?

Izzy: Beth Cobden – she’s an England international who was part of the winning squad at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, which means she’s pretty awesome. More than this, however, is the fact that she’s come back from three ACL tears. Returning from this sort of injury three times shows her amazing level of resilience.

Nat: It would have to be Lorraine Kowalewska because the first ever Netball game I watched in person was a Surrey Storm game where she got player of the match. In my head, she plays how I aspire to, as she was quite physical and made turnovers when it really counted. I met her afterwards, and she was just really nice!

Nat, despite only being a second year, what is your favourite moment playing netball for Cambridge so far?

Nat: My favourite moment was our most recent match against Oxford at home in the league. We had five minutes left and were three goals down, despite being up the whole game. I remember looking at the clock and thinking: ‘How has this happened? ’ However, Izzy made a key turnover, which inspired a late fightback. In the last 30 seconds, we were passing it to each other frantically, playing possession, trying not to lose it! Everyone just played so well, and it was a great way to end the term.

“It’s a really tough position to be in”

Given that you often have to select the team and also make mid-game substitutions, do you find this particular aspect of being captain difficult?

Nat: Of course, that is the hard part, but going into the season, we had to be very clear about our values: everyone should be prepared to go to an away match and not get game time, even though that’s really hard. When that does happen, it’s definitely difficult, but I don’t feel there is any animosity towards us, as everyone is very understanding that selection can be very tricky. At the end of the day, we want to create an environment where we place an emphasis on player welfare without detracting from performance.

Izzy: I think people appreciate that it’s a really tough position to be in, playing on the court and then having to make a decision of who goes on and off. That’s why the teamwork between Nat and myself is so important. Being co-captains gives us the confidence to make difficult decisions. There are certainly instances where we have probably made wrong selections, but it’s our job to hold our hands up and apologise for where we didn’t get things right.

What is the captaincy process?

Izzy: We were chosen by our coach, Millie. Historically, the overall club captain would be the Blues captain, but that has shifted in the last couple of years. Hope Campbell, our club captain this year, acts as more of a welfare figure, so all players have a clear point of contact to discuss things such as selection. I wasn’t sure if I wanted the full responsibility of being captain by myself, so the decision was taken that the leadership would be split this year.

Nat: I was asked to be co-captain alongside Izzy, and to be honest, it works really well. Since Izzy had already done it for a year, it meant that I wasn’t ever thrown into the deep end too quickly, and it’s nice to be able to bounce ideas off each other, especially in regard to player welfare and performance.

What is the date of the Varsity match this year?

Nat: 22nd February!

Finally, how can people get more involved with Netball at Cambridge?

Izzy: Play college netball, both Ladies and Mixed! Crucially, if you don’t have a netball team and want to start one, you can do so. Then just email the league secretary to join college competitions.

Nat: Make sure to follow the Cambridge University Ladies’ Netball (@cambridgeuninetball) and the CULNC Development Squad (@culncdevsquad) on Instagram to keep up to date with all things netball at Cambridge!