TeamBath’s Superleague netball team have been named Team of the Year in The Bath Chronicle’s 2009 People of the Year awards.
Bath’s weekly newspaper named the team as winners of its award after TeamBath won the Co-operative Superleague title in 2008/9 for the third time out of four Superleague campaigns. The team took the Superleague crown in impressive style by winning all 18 of their contests.
TeamBath Buccaneers Hockey Club, Bath City Football Club and Bath Cricket Club were all named among the runners-up for the award.
There was also praise for TeamBath captain Pamela Cookey and head coach Jess Garland, who were both named runners-up for the Sportswoman of the Year Award.
England player Cookey was outstanding both last season and at the start of this one, collecting the Superleague player of the season award for 2008/9 and player of the Superleague final award last season. Garland led TeamBath to the Superleague title in her first year as the team’s head coach.
Garland said: "We're delighted and honoured to have won The Bath Chronicle's Team of the Year Award, and also pleased that both Pamela and I were runners-up for the Sportswoman of the Year Award.
"This is further recognition of the team's achievements and also of the growing popularity of the sport.”
The overall Sportswoman of the Year award went to Corsham swimmer Stephanie Millward, who collected five gold medals and a silver at the European Paralympic Short Course Championships and followed that up with four golds, three silvers and a bronze at the World Short Course Championships.
The latest plaudits for TeamBath’s netballers came just weeks after the team featured on the shortlist for the Team of the Year Award and Garland featured on the Coach of the Year Award shortlist at the BBC West Sports Personality of the Year Awards.
TeamBath’s netballers return to what they do best on Saturday when they take on Team Northumbria at the University of Bath Sports Training Village at 5.30pm on Saturday (9th January). It is the start of a busy week for the defending Superleague champions who travel to Hertfordshire to play Mavericks on Monday 11th January and then return to action at home against Celtic Dragons on Friday 15th January at 7.30pm.
