Q&A with Netball Superleague player Tamsin Greenway

Q&A with Netball Superleague player Tamsin Greenway

How do you juggle work, being a mother and high level training without going insane? Read our Q&A with Netball Superleague player Tamsin Greenway to find out.

With the Netball Superleague well underway, we caught up with Surrey Storm player Tamsin Greenway – who, by the way has 54 England caps and medals from both the Commonwealth Games and World Championships – to find out more about her day-to-day life, being a mother and, of course, her sport.

How did you start playing netball and how/when did you realise you could play at a high level?

I started playing netball at primary school. I played every sport, I wanted to be a footballer, but my mum said I to do something else, because at the time women weren’t playing football at that level. So I started playing netball, absolutely loved it and came home at the age of 10 and said, ‘I’m going to play for England one day,’ and Mum said, ‘yeah, but we’ll see.’ So that was it, I was obsessed, started playing everything, for school, the county, club and started getting picked when I was about 15/16, so probably knew I was onto something then.

Do you train and play full-time or keep up another job, too?

I’m lucky that my job is netball, so it means I get to train quite easily, but I do run a netball programme at Surrey Sports Park where I look after the player/coach of Surrey Storm, I look after their university teams and I also run their community project.

Do you have to train in the gym to work on strength and conditioning, too? If so, take us through an average session.

I’m probably not the best person to ask for this, as I hate getting in the gym. But yes, I do get in the gym now I’m back in the England programme; twice a week. Mine is a bodyweight session, light lifting rather than any big heavy lifts, but I can clean, squat and bench press if I need to.

What’s your favourite thing to do unrelated to sports?

That’s tough, as everything I do is related to sports. Probably just hang out with my little one and do all the normal things you get to do, like go down to the park and mess around with her.

Does playing netball require a strict diet? What’s your favourite junk food?

As long as you’re sensible about what you eat you can have a good range in your diet. I do have to watch my junk food – especially as when I’ve played netball there’s nothing better than grabbing a bit of chocolate cake or packet of crisps, but I’m pretty good these days and try to eat a balanced diet.

What do you think is something that would surprise most people about your sport?

Just how physical it is when people come to watch, because everybody knows it as a non-contact sport, especially from school, so they don’t realise the physicality of it. I can definitely show you some bruises that would say otherwise.

What would you say to convince more women to take up netball?

What I love about netball is that it’s your ultimate team sport. When you watch football, rugby and so on, you can just run past everybody – you don’t need everybody else. But with netball because of your positions you need somebody in every position, which means everyone gets to play. And it’s so social; it’s so nice to have a group of women throwing a ball around at whatever level. It keeps you fit, healthy and happy.

What other sports do you enjoy and why?

I love all other sports. I’m a big football fan and I support Leicester City for my sins. I love all of the American sports as well, like NFL and NBA. I tend to go out to America once a year on holiday and watch American sport.

You recently had a child. What was the hardest thing about returning to sports?

The hardest thing is sleep deprivation. I love playing sport obviously and all of the other bits come quite natural to me, but I think you get very tired having a child and it’s about making sure you get the balance right of hanging out with them as well as getting your training done.

What’s the biggest challenge you’ve faced in your career so far and how did you overcome it?

I’ve been really lucky in terms of no major injuries. I suppose the biggest thing is being de-selected and bouncing back from that. I had that early in my England career – I got into the squad for a year and then got dropped so I had to work hard to get back into the team and not give up. That was a big challenge but I love what I do so I was quite single-minded about getting back in there and proving people wrong.

Who’s your role model and why?

In the world of sport I like Roger Federer. He’s an incredible guy, not only a genius on the tennis court, but also a really nice guy, too. There’s no drama that surrounds him, he’s just a good person that is very good at what he does and loves what he does and I think that’s important.

Sky Sports is showing live action from all 14 rounds, both semis and the final of the Netball Superleague as part of the channel’s biggest ever year of women’s sport.

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