Surrey Hurricanes: Mixed netball side aiming for successful second season

Surrey Hurricanes are the first mixed netball side outside London in the south east of England

A Guildford-based mixed netball side get their season under way this weekend.

Surrey Hurricanes were the first mixed netball side outside London in the south east when they formed a year ago.

In their second season, they are competing in the England Men's and Mixed Netball Association Southern League.

They will face Knights Netball in Farnham in their first game.

The team was founded by netball enthusiast Alex MacLean, who has praised the backing his team has received in its short lifespan.

"We've ended up with something quite special here," MacLean told BBC South Today.

"I didn't think that after a year we'd have over 30 people playing and achieving the results that we have. The level of talent is incredible."

In mixed netball, a team consists of 10 players, of which seven can play at any time. Each team should have a minimum of two and maximum of three male players on court at all times.

Big ambitions for upcoming season

Hurricanes captain Manish Manoj wants to achieve big things with the team this campaign.

"Last year we finished third in our league and 13th at nationals," he said.

"We want to build on that - top eight at nationals would be good and we want to be higher than third in our league.

"We had some more additions recently after trials and we're building the team chemistry, it's looking really positive."