Chartie Curtis back at her ‘home from home’ as England age-group defender rejoins Blue & Gold squad for 2021 Superleague season
Chartie Curtis says it feels like being back at her “home from home” after returning to the Team Bath Netball squad for the 2021 Vitality Superleague season.
The talented defender, who captained England U19s and won the European Championships at U21 level, spent the 2020 campaign with Surrey Storm during a placement year as part of her Economics degree course at the University of Bath.
The season may have been curtailed by the Coronavirus pandemic but Curtis was able to complete her rehabilitation from an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) knee injury which had cut short her debut Superleague campaign with Team Bath in 2019.
“Storm were absolutely amazing in helping me get back on court and I am really grateful to them, I am feeling back to full strength now,” said the 20-year-old, who is supported in her student-athlete career by a Santander Sporting Scholarship.
“I am so excited to be back in Bath, it feels like a home from home. It’s a really high-performance environment – we train hard, we work hard and the coaching is excellent. I’m excited to learn and rebuild my game as part of such a successful club.
“My personal aim for the year is get back on court, play some more Superleague games and get a real feel for it. The obvious long-term aim is to win the title this season, Team Bath were doing so well last year and we want to build on that momentum.
“Before that it’s getting all the team back training together – I can’t wait for that, it’s been far too long. We all love being part of a team, that’s why we play netball, and you don’t realise how nice it is to be with other people until it gets taken away from you.”
Anna Stembridge, Team Bath Netball’s Superleague Head Coach, added: “It’s great to see Chartie back on court and back here at Team Bath. She is a really smart and deceptive defender who gets in an attacker’s mind by seeming to make space before closing it down.
“For a young athlete, she also has bags of experience at Superleague and England age-group level, so I am excited to see how she will continue to develop this year.”
