'We want to create our own legacy' - Forest set for Netball Super League debut

Nottingham Forest are the first Premier League football club to be affiliated with a netball team

Nottingham Forest Netball head coach Chelsea Pitman says she wants her side to "create our own legacy" when they take to the court for the first time.

Forest, backed by the Premier League football club, are one of eight teams competing in the revamped Netball Super League (NSL), with a new one-day competition - the Netball Super Cup - acting as the curtain-raiser on Saturday, 8 March.

It marks the start of a new chapter for domestic netball in the UK in the first campaign as the division moves towards professionalisation.

Forest, along with Birmingham Panthers, are one of two new franchises admitted to the league while new rules have been introduced with the aim of improving its entertainment value.

The Super Cup will provide the first opportunity to see the refreshed teams and the super shot - where shooters can score two points from a dedicated area on the edge of the shooting circle - in action at Sheffield's Utilita Arena.

The season begins on Friday, 14 March and the BBC will show one NSL match per week, beginning with London Pulse v Forest on Sunday, 16 March.

'We're paving our own way'

When Forest were admitted to the league in May last year along with Birmingham - after Team Bath, Strathclyde Sirens, Surrey Storm and Severn Stars were dropped - they said they had "major plans to develop a multi-sport model for the football club".

Having played in both the NSL and Australia's Super Netball League - where she was part of a similar transition towards professionalisation - former England Roses player Pitman, who retired last year, knows first-hand the challenges facing the league and her new team.

"When I had my first interview with Forest, I was pretty open about where I want the league and netball to go in the UK," she said.

"I want to be able to bring and adapt things that I learned over in Australia playing for so many years, to be implemented here in NSL."

The move towards multi-sport franchises is not an uncommon one - fellow Super League side Leeds Rhinos have links to the rugby league team - but what has not been seen in netball before is a team operating under the same banner as a Premier League club.

With that comes an expectation that the team will automatically perform but, with a salary cap and investment in the sport still required, Pitman's side are as unknown as any other.

The netball team are, however, able to take advantage of the facilities and already professional structures in place behind the scenes at Forest.

"I think it's been really great that they welcomed us with open arms and it's really cool going to the City Ground and just the history of the football club," Pitman said.

"But we're paving our own way and our own legacy and building the foundations for what the netball side of Forest is."

Forest defender Tash Pavelin said it feels like the team have slotted into a "really professional environment that's already had all the groundwork in place".

"We really feel like they're invested in us," she said.

"It just feels like a much more professional set-up and much more like a job than it has done in the past, which is really cool to see."

It also puts netball in front of an audience where it has not necessarily been seen before, with photographs on social media showing players enjoying a joint Christmas party with the football team.

Pitman also made a half-time appearance to talk about the netball team on the pitch at the City Ground during a Premier League match.

"We're nowhere near where football is with the resources they have, but if I can learn something, be able to change and adapt and bring it into our environment, that's a win," said Pitman.

"We hope to get some Reds fans at our home games."

What does professionalisation really mean?

While the revamped NSL means steps are being made to ensure that netball could be a viable career path for aspiring players now, the reality is that salary caps mean many players are still juggling jobs or studies with their netball careers.

Manchester Thunder head coach Karen Greig said the league is "nowhere near professional yet", adding that eight of her 10 players also have full-time jobs.

At Forest, some are able to commit fully to their netball career - they are often the ones who also play for England - while others also work or study.

Captain Naimh Cooper, who commutes to Bristol where she works part-time as a doctor, said she feels "lucky to have the flexibility" - but would not turn down the opportunity to become a full-time netballer.

"To be part of a fully professional league is something I wouldn't be able to turn down," she said.

"We're on that journey to professionalisation and if that offer was to be made it's something I would consider."

England player Pavelin, who has put her accounting career on hold to pursue netball full-time, said: "I've got something to fall back on when you have to retire from netball at a youngish age - it's something that I can go back to in the future."

Pavelin had a job alongside playing for Team Bath last year, who were not granted a place in the revamped NSL, but one of Pitman's stipulations for Forest's players is that they live in Nottingham - so she opted to move.

"Being able to tell my parents I could do it full-time, with the time that they've sacrificed driving me back and forth, sometimes two hours to training when I was younger, is nice," said Pavelin.

"For them to be able to see it actually turn into a career is nice for them to see as well as obviously amazing for me to be a part of."