The Netball Show
S7 Ep38: NWC 5 Year Ani : Niamh Cooper (16th July 2024)
It's James Thompson-Boston here, Flyhawk Ambassador and online at www.flyhork.com. You can find their full range of netball products including hoodies, leggings, netballs and so much more. There are even kit packages to suit everyone. They are available in UK size 4 to 24, they come in different lengths, plus we can even send you a sample pack for a returnable fee so you can try some of the range. The netball show with Flyhawk, raising the bar for netball and winning sports. The netball show with Flyhawk celebrating and looking back at five years since the netball cup was held in Liverpool with those involved on and off the course, the latest podcast, Nev Cooper from Nippon Northern Ireland. What was it like for us while being part of the World Cup? You know what, it was fantastic and I can't believe it was five years ago, that blows my mind. It really does fly when you're having fun and maybe a bit older now than obviously I had thought. When I look back on the World Cup in 2019, it's with really fond memories. We had Dan Ryan in his coach at that stage and he brought a whole new vibrancy to the group at the time and the crack was great and I just remember the crowds and the atmosphere around Liverpool was insane. I even remember we played a match against Zimbabwe and Solisis Quangua would tell you. The day I was looking out on the right side of that result and that was obviously heartbreaking in itself but the atmosphere playing and that just felt like we were in the middle of an African carnival mixed with a sympatrix day parade. It was an absolutely brilliant atmosphere and something that you don't get the experience very often in Nepal and the crowds that we pulled in, so it's with really fond memories that I look back on that tournament. Dan is the coach as well, very relatable and he really got the best out of all the team didn't he? He really did, yeah, I think sometimes, especially when you come from a smaller nation, it can be very easy to be predisposed by, you know, obviously everybody knows everybody in a very small country and often you can be sort of predisposed by the opinions of players and stuff he came in with a completely fresh look on everything and didn't know anybody from before and was able to really bring some of the best out of players that maybe hadn't had much of a look in including myself probably at that time and it probably was unfortunate really that following that COVID hit and we didn't really get any more experience of him after that but, you know, I look back and probably have him designed for, you know, being able to reenter the oblique that following year and my career since then so yeah he was fantastic and I must say as well, great crack too. Important obviously that home nations were part of it, Scotland and England, Will's just now really missing out. Yeah, I mean it's a really difficult one because as you say, Will's missed out on that tournament and we actually played Will's in like a warm up test series quad event that they set in Cardiff before that as a warm up tournament and they beat Malawi in Trinidad and Tobago who were going to the World Cup and Wales hadn't qualified and it is difficult to know we've had these discussions in the past, you know, about the qualification process and how it off it appears unfair that some of the nations across the world that are ranked far lower than us have an easier qualification method, you know, in terms of the people that the other teams they have to play against versus us were, you know, realistically we're at 9th and 10th in the world and us Scotland and Wales and one team always misses out because you can't have all three goings so to me then it doesn't really come across always like it's a performance competition but to an extent in essence a little bit of a participation competition and, you know, Wales missed out on that one, we missed out then on the time, you know, four years later and I strongly believe that, you know, the district really be a slightly different way to make sure that the top teams, you know, if they miss out through the first qualification process, have an opportunity to try and qualify after because it seems illogical to me that the team that ranks 20th in the world gets to go and a team that's ranked 10th or 11th doesn't and so yeah, I think that is something that word net goal for my understanding is looking at and hopefully will be improved going forward. No greater honour than representing your country. As opposed to question there is what's that like and it just makes it all worthwhile knowing that you've really worked over the years just to reach that. Yeah, I think it's huge. It's something that I think at times can be really underestimated and especially when you're from a small nation, the camaraderie and the like friendships that you make within that team because you're from such a small country or it becomes so strong and they become, you know, where your best mates play with you and to go out and represent your country on an international stage like that with those people is just something that you never really get to experience elsewhere. So it's always an honour for me to go out and represent the Warriors and I've been looking out quite a few times and it's something that I really want to leave a good legacy behind in terms of where the Warriors sit so that they continue to qualify for these top tournaments and so the younger girls coming through you get to experience it too because it really is sort of once in a lifetime experiences going out in front of a massive crowd and, you know, doing the country pride and it's something that I think everybody at the top level of netball should be able to experience. That scored in 2019, it seemed like every other player was from Belfast ladies. What was that about? Oh, that's to be fair to Northern Ireland if there's probably three or four top teams within the league and most players come from one of the three of them. I'm not a Belfast ladies girl myself, probably one of the few that wasn't. But yeah, it's just the local club that produces every year, you know, they're producing future talent and really developing that and coaches at underage level nationally and Alain Rice who's been, you know, has had multiple 10 years at head coach internationally have developed these players and they've always been very successful. You know, the likes of Fetho Nern has come out of Belfast ladies. So yeah, I don't don't think about the fact of the selection process and we're always going to bring those players regardless. But maybe I'll highlight that to the selectors going forward. There's been a bit of a bias. Caroline was captain obviously having just having somebody like her. Yeah, Caroline is a fantastic leader, captain. I've known Caroline for years and years and the thing I like most about having her as captain or working with her is just her no-nonsense approach to everything. You know, everything's fairly straightforward in her mind. You know, you work hard, you put in the hard yards and the results will look after themselves. And she very much leads by example. She's not the type to come out with big, you know, raring in inspirational speeches, but what she does on court and how hard she works off the court and very much sets a tone for the standards as expected from everybody who wants to take the court from Northern Ireland. And yeah, she's always been inspirational to me and someone that I've sort of aspired to be like in terms of the values that I hold in my sport. So yeah, it was great. And I mean, for her to take the knock that she did in the first game against the Aussie Diamonds and just crack on for the rest of the week probably says a lot about her character as well. Elsewhere, the members of that squad included Dreni, Nalene, Shauna and Gemma. The experience helped. Yeah, it really did. And we were really unfortunate to be honest. In the two or three weeks leading up to the competition, we lost Lisa Bowman, who would have been our start and go shooter to a broken ankle. And Michelle Drian severely injured her ankle as well. She was able to play in the end, but was quite restricted. And you know, we actually had to pull in Nalene Lennon, who was a, he would have been the start and go shooter for years previous to Lisa. And so she would pulled out a retirement and actually was due to be going to a rowing competition, pulled her out of that. And sort of pull her out of a hole for that competition. So the experience that we had there in terms of Nalene as well was just huge. I think she maybe got her 100th half of that tournament. So yeah, it was a very, very experienced group, which definitely helped. But even with that, I would say that there were maybe only two or three players that actually had experienced a World Cup before, and that in itself is obviously, you know, it's a very, it's an exciting environment, but it's very high pressure. And it's fairly relentless in terms of, you know, the volume of training and the constant interaction that you have for about 10 days. So yeah, I think, you know, host that competition, there's a lot of experiences being developed that hopefully will stand us and good stead going forward during has stood us and good stead going forward after that. And it's important we mentioned the McGee's as well. She was 19 and Emma was 21. Oh, God, yeah. I remember that was like a real breakout competition for Emma, especially Michelle had been with us in 2018 at the Commonwealth Games and had broken out then. And she, I remember she was still studying for our levels when we were at the Gold Coast. And the study and probably was a strong word God lover, because she didn't really get much of a break away from the rest of us. But Emma McGee really broke onto the scene and was fantastic at that tournament in 2019 and rightly so was picked up contracts in a super league sense. So yeah, they are very talented pair, very talented family that have gone on to do really well. And I think the values that they hold in terms of work ethic and their ability to just get the job done has really stood them and good stead over the last couple of years. And that's obviously been reflected in the season with them at rhinos as well. One of the things I remember is the fact that on occasions there were two games taking place at the same time. Obviously, when you're on court, you would just be focusing on your game. But I suppose, could you hear the other court? And did you get a chance to experience as a group from the crowds as well? Yeah, yeah, of course we were allowed to go and watch the matches and we did go and watch a couple of them. And I remember, especially going on watching now, this wasn't when they had the two, they changed the court to one court by the stage. Obviously, we went to watch the semifinals and the finals. And that was an amazing experience. But when you're playing, I don't know whether every player is like this, but for me, I find that I don't notice the crowd or like, I can't hear what's being said or what's being shouted. I go into a bit of a zone that I don't notice it. So I don't think I don't remember anyone really. Which is all right, because you can't hear that as well. Never World Cup is a special occasion. And unlike football, I suppose, fans of the teams as well, often stayed in the same hotels. Yeah, so we actually didn't, we stayed in a sort of self-catered accommodation. And I felt for some working for team manager and assistant coaches, they fair us a couple of times, scored love them when we were all exhausted. But yeah, we were definitely very close by. And there was, you're right, there was fans and agents and all sorts staying in the same hotel as some of the top teams, you know, they were all sort of staying in the Hilton. It was cross the road from us. And it's funny because, you know, there's just continuous access to players in Nepal. I don't know whether that's as common in football. I don't think it is. And I do think that it's what makes Nepal different because the players generally are very approachable and are very happy to talk to the fans and to promote the game that way. So hopefully that's something that sort of stays in Nepal as we go into this new professional area with the NSL 2.0. [MUSIC] I was there for that first game at Nepal World Cup. We saw you play Australia. And my memory of it is that I managed to get pressed tribute seat one, which was a great night indeed. I suppose it would be nice to get that kind of game out of the way of first. Yeah, we seem to always come up against the Aussie Diamonds in one of our first games. And it was an opportunity, I think, from the start, we sort of decided that we would see it as a positive thing and relish the opportunity to get, you know, realistically, you know, odds are stacked against us very unlikely to do, to take a win against that team. And so it was sort of seen as an opportunity to get everybody out in court, everybody's nerves settled, you know, everybody to experience what it was like with the crowd. So that when we went into the bigger games that followed that, that everybody sort of had got that feeling and that first, you know, nerves out of the way, which I think definitely was the case, you know, everybody got out on court. And at that point, you know, if you're going to play against the team, well, they didn't actually go on to win, but, you know, it was their favourites to win. If you go against them, it's only going to get, you know, in theory, it's only going to get easier after that. So, yeah, we sort of saw it as a relish opportunity to come up against them first. Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka were also in the group. What did you make of the games against them? Well, Sri Lanka was great because I think we took the win on that one. I can't remember what the score line was now. And it's a difficult one because they have a, they have a very tall shooter. I always struggled to pronounce her name, but she's fantastic. And obviously, you know, our back end isn't the tallest. So that was a challenge for us. It was great to come away with win on that one. Zimbabwe was a heart-breaking heel that would probably sit with me forever, and it was sort of ironic that I went on to play on a team with Felicitis Quangua, who I think was the one that took, you know, the three or four winning steals off us to take the game and make it for Zimbabwe. But the experience of that game as heart-breaking as it was probably was, you know, a highlight of my career in terms of the atmosphere and, you know, the excitement and the amount of home support and African support that was there was just incredible. But I never forgot, actually, I went on, obviously, playing for Sri Storm with Felicitis about two years later, and we'd lost a game and we'd lost a few games that year in a row. And she gave this sort of inspirational speech in the changing room after and I never forget because I just drove my uncle, I was sitting there with my, you know, feeling sorry for myself, with my foot up and some ice on it. And she decided that was the time to remind everybody that, you know, if you work hard, you know, positive things can happen and use the example of beating Northern Ireland in the Nepal World Cup. And I was like, "Oh, my goodness, bless the district. I saw the bike, I saw it in the wind here." And England and Scotland were doing their own thing in Group D. Did you maybe keep half an eye on how they were progressing? Yeah, I think there's always that natural competitiveness between us and Scotland and when our wheels weren't there, but when they are there, you know, you sort of keep an eye on them, too, because inevitably, often what happens is we end up playing them in a sort of final playoff game. And so we always keep an eye on what they're doing. And yeah, we would tear them on when we're not playing against them, you know, being sort of home nations. But there's always that sort of inner competitiveness that you want to come out on top against them. And we finished the best ahead of them. I'm pretty sure that competition, they had a couple of tough games in their grip as well. So yeah, you're always keeping a bit of a side eye on, but with the focus sort of on, you know, get our job done first and take destiny into our own hands. Prelim saw Australian New Zealand Malawi Zimbabwe and yourselves. You finished fifth and didn't progress, but what did Dan say following the failure to qualify for the latter stages? I think he was proud. But I think there was definitely an elemental frustration because, you know, the Zimbabwe game was definitely there for the taking as was the Malawi game. We came very close to Malawi from memory. And we've actually never beaten Malawi in our history. So it was an opportunity that we felt was sort of went missed to probably have taken two more games and have finished quite high up the table, you know, for our standards. So I think there was pride that we've gone out and done well and represented Northern and strongly and really put ourselves on the international stage, but definitely disappointment and frustration of what could have been. But yeah, I think that's really put far in the valley, you know, going forwards into the years that have come since in terms of trying to get more players into the league and recognizing that, you know, playing those top-level games weekend, we guided something that we've sort of been a disadvantage. Have you noticed the growth in Nepal since? Yeah, I think so. No, definitely there has been also back at the World Cup, definitely, because, you know, I think that the 2019-2020 season that was then actually subsequently canceled as COVID had the most players from Northern Ireland represented across the league than ever. And there was huge support from Northern Ireland in terms of wanting to see all of those players do well. So it definitely raised the profile. And, you know, with that obviously comes funding, which is a big thing for us. So yeah, it definitely sort of set the tone for a few years after that. It was just unfortunate that COVID hit when it did because I feel like we were on a sort of positive momentum at the time. And what would you say to those just starting out in a ball with the, as opposed to the hope, the intention of reaching that big stage of representing the country? I think, you know, if I was a young person now, I would say it had been very lucky, you know, to be coming into the sport of this stage, you know, there's now, you know, more funding than ever. There's more publicity than ever. And obviously, with the introduction of this, you know, new professional league, yes, it's an unknown, but what an exciting time to be involved in in Nepal, you know, young one. I mean, I'm turning 32 this year. So, you know, my mind is still young. I'm still young, exactly, honey, that's it. But I, you know, realistically, over the next couple of years, my career began to come to end. And, you know, just does it sort of getting very exciting. And I think if I was to give advice to young players, it would be to take every single opportunity that you possibly can and just enjoy every moment. You lose four more matches than you win in Nepal generally, especially when you come from a home nation. So, I think, you know, the primary takeaway for me is always to have enjoyed it. And maybe not just take it too seriously, because probably taken me till I was probably 20 or 29 to realize that the whole point of it probably is to, you know, enjoy yourself. And if you, what does it, what does it they say? If you, if you love what you do, you don't work it down in your life. So, I think if you're enjoying your Nepal, you're always going to play better. Nepal and I.org to find out more. And in the meantime, Nev, thanks a lot for your time. Thank you very much. Cheering your memories. Thank you. The net will show is now also available via Sky HD, SkyQ, and Sky Glass. So, let's sport and we're on the podcast's rail. (whooshing)
Niamh Cooper is the first of a set of new interviews with players and coaches that took part in NWC 2019 in Liverpool.