How can netball cash in on its grassroots support?

Manchester Thunder are preparing for their Netball Super League opener against Loughborough Lightning on 16 March

Women's football has been booming in recent years and has never had a higher profile.

Members of the England Lionesses have become household names, with many of the world's best players attracting ever bigger crowds to Women's Super League matches around the country.

But how are women in other sports faring?

More women play netball than any other sport in England, with an estimated three million taking to the court each year.

Now the Netball Super League (NSL), which begins its new season on Friday with much hype and a brand new format, is determined to harness enthusiasm at grassroots level.

League bosses want 50% of games to be played at bigger arenas.

Manchester Thunder's franchise director and head coach Karen Gregg says this will be key to drumming up even more interest in the sport.

And more bums on seats would bring in the additional revenue that is needed to increase players' wages, potentially to the point where they can become full-time professionals.

Until then, though, many of the NSL's stars will be juggling netball with their day jobs.

Manchester Thunder head coach Karen Gregg is optimistic about the future of the sport she loves

The NSL hopes to increase average wages by at least 60%, with the minimum salary more than doubling.

At the moment, training sessions typically have to take place in the evening, so as to fit around players' day jobs.

Gregg hopes the league's stars will eventually be in a financial position to be able to fit their other work commitments around their netball.

It may take time, she concedes.

"We're only in the first year of a 10-year plan," Gregg tells the BBC.

"We're still very much having to do what we do at night, so it fits around the players' professions.

"By the time we get to year five, six or seven the players' salaries will be improved and hopefully we'll be training during the day.

"I'm hoping that if I'm still here then, we'll be training during the day and we'll almost reflect what professional footballers do."

Josie Huckle is a full-time teacher and head of PE at a school in Bedfordshire

Goal Keeper and defensive player Josie Huckle currently combines playing for Manchester Thunder with being head of PE at a school in Bedfordshire.

The 33-year-old typically works from 7.30am until 5.30pm before heading to training sessions, often in Manchester.

She also manages her school's weekend netball fixtures.

Given the amount of time she spends in the northwest of England, Huckle says she feels like an "honorary Manc".

"I love the sport intensely so I'm lucky I get to do both jobs," she said.

"My partner is incredibly supportive - I'm very lucky he looks after life when I'm not there."

While acknowledging that some of her students have no idea about her being an elite athlete, Huckle says she is determined to be a great role model for girls following in her footsteps.

She jokes that during an annual school trip to see the Thunder last year, some of her students even asked for their teacher's autograph.

"I was like 'You see me every day - go speak to Nat Metcalf because she's England captain!'

"It's really nice because it opens their eyes to what women's sport is. And they can see me being a full-time teacher and able to play professional sport.

"It gives them an idea of what they could do."

South Africa's Nikola Smith will play for Manchester Thunder until July, when she will head back to Cape Town

Huckle isn't the only teacher in the Manchester Thunder squad.

South African Nikola Smith will be with the team until July, when she will head back to her job at a primary school in Cape Town.

The 25-year-old, who plays Goal Keeper and Goal Defence, also says she is proud to inspire the girls she teaches, and loves the fact they are her "biggest fans".

Smiling, she remembers "the little ones had to do an oral project about what they want to be one day, and a lot of the girls in the class said they wanted to be netball players 'like teacher Nikola'."

While rugby union dominates sport in South Africa, Smith says netball was given a lot of exposure on television when the 2023 Netball World Cup was held there.

"When I was that age I didn't watch it - I didn't know any of the players."

Junior doctor Amy Carter combines her work at Salford Royal hospital with playing netball for Manchester Thunder

While many of her team-mates dream of turning professional, Manchester Thunder's captain Amy Carter, from Macclesfield, says she is in no hurry to give up her day job.

The 26-year-old, who plays Wing Defence and Centre, is also a junior doctor at Salford Royal hospital's A&E unit.

"I love it - I'm not someone who's a fan of routines at all," she explains.

"I like to have a focus on two different things - if you get too zoned in on one it becomes a bit all-encompassing and too pressurising, whereas having a bit of both is really helpful."

How does she reconcile the two?

"It sounds like two different worlds," she admits, "but I have developed transferrable skills.

"There's actually lots of similarities between the two in terms of leadership, decision-making, working under pressure, communication and working in a team.

"They really do play into each other - you can get what you can out of both of them."