Wales name Team Bath Super League centre Bethan Dyke and rising NPL star Sarie Watkins in 2023 Netball World Cup squad
Team Bath Super League star Bethan Dyke will compete at her second Netball World Cup and rising NPL star Sarie Watkins will experience her first after Wales this week confirmed their squad for South Africa.
Mid-courter Dyke – who represented the Feathers when they last contested the World Cup in 2015 – has been named as vice-captain for the 2023 tournament, which is taking place in Cape Town from 28th July to 6th August.
It is a fifth major tournament for Dyke but it will be a debut competition for teenage shooter Watkins, who has enjoyed a rapid rise through the Wales ranks and made her senior debut in October having only made her first U21 international appearance less than 12 months earlier.
Watkins is a graduate of the Team Bath Athlete Development Centre in Bristol and has represented the Blue & Gold in NPL at U17 and U19 level over the past two seasons.
Team Bath Academy Head Coach Natalie Roddy said: “We are absolutely delighted for Sarie, she is a huge talent and has worked so hard this season. She deserves her national call-up.
“This will be a big challenge but one we are certain Sarie will embrace. We can’t wait to see her step out on court.”
Former Team Bath NPL players Shona O’Dwyer and Ella Powell-Davies are also in a 12-strong Wales squad selected by ex-Blue & Gold coach and University of Bath graduate Emily Handyside (nee Perry), now Head Coach of the Feathers.
Dyke and Watkins are the third Team Bath players to be officially selected for the World Cup following Imogen Allison’s call-up to the England squad last month.
