Only 3 days to Super Cup 2003 begins

6th May 2003

Northern Flames will open the competition facing London Hurricanes, keen to improve on their performances in previous years the young Flames will be hoping that on home ground they can get off to the perfect start. Coach of Northern Flames Denise Egan said "We have made significant improvement and progress as players have matured and adjusted to top flight competition and each player in the squad we have assembled for this years competition has represented England at junior or senior level during their career. We are looking to enhance our position and shock some of the favourites."

Hot on their tales are London Hurricanes who have landed a top sponsorship deal with adidas Activebodycare. After finishing third in both 2001 and 2002 they will be hoping they can go one step further and make the final. Denise Holland, coach of the Hurricanes said, "The Super Cup is a chance for future national athletes to demonstrate their skill and flair and compete with the finest experienced England players. Success is being the best you can be and Hurricanes are striving to put in outstanding and match-winning performances this year."

Petchey London Tornadoes will face Northern Thunder in their opening game and will hope to avenge last year’s result. Thunder beat them in the group stages and denied them Tornadoes a place in the final as a result of this victory after both teams levelled on points. Amanda Newton has represented both sides but this year will be back leading the charge of the Tornadoes. She said "I am looking forward to the competition, it will be close. I hope that once again I will be on a winning side!"

On Sunday fans in the North East will be treated to a local derby as the Flames take on the Thunder. Thunder, last year’s champions will be hoping that they can become the first team to win back to back titles. Coach Mike Greenwood said of his team’s quest "We will be looking to retain the title, we have a young committed squad and it will be a very exciting competition."

Birmingham Blaze will hope to get of to a winning start as they take on Team Bath Force and London Hurricanes. Having finished as runner up for two years they will be hoping that this proves to be third time lucky. Colette Thomson who has moved up from Assistant Coach to Coach this year stated, "I believe that the competition this year will be the closest yet, it will be difficult to predict the final result, there is a wider range of players available to all the teams. In the end I think the team that is successful will be the one who has displayed the greatest consistency."

The competition will take place over three weekends with matches being played on both Saturday and Sunday. The teams will play each other once before playing off for their final position in the competition on Sunday 25^th May 2003 at Bath University. Team Bath Force Captain Kathryn Rawson said, "It is great that Bath has the opportunity to host an event like this. As a team we are aiming for the title and it would certainly give the home crowd something to cheer about if we were in the final."