An emotional Tamsin Greenway thanked her fellow players, fans, family and staff after calling time on her netball playing career with a 68-58 win in a star-studded testimonial match at Surrey Storm’s home, Surrey Sports Park.
A host of the nations top netball talent past and present turned out for the legendary Storm player-coach in front of a sell-out Guildford crowd.
Greenway lined up for ‘Team Blue’ alongside her Storm attack teammates Rachel Dunn and Pamela Cookey. The trio were joined by England captain Sara Bayman and their fellow former Team Bath teammates Stacey Francis, Clare Elsley, Bianca and Adele Modeste, Naomi Taylor and new Storm Head Coach Kathryn Ratnapala.
Team Blue went up against Team Purple which included current Storm stars Hannah Reid and Katt Ainsworth, former Storm players including captain Becky Trippick, Natalie Seaton, Gemma Cosentino and Katie Harris, plus Lindsay Keable, Abs Dewberry, Georgie Fisher and Loughborough Lightning Head Coach Karen Atkinson.
Guest coaches for the night included current and past Storm Team Managers Tom Resiegh and Emily Wise, Surrey Smashers Badminton Head Coach Hayley Adcock, former Storm Assistant Coach Mel Mansfield and Amanda Newton.
The game ebbed and flowed in a fun-filled night in celebration of her career which has seen Greenway feature for Surrey Storm, Team Bath, Queensland Firebirds and England.
Commenting after the game, a humble Tamsin Greenway addressed the crowd: “That was a lot of fun. You could see out there I definitely had 6 months off and had not trained!
“I want to thank all the players out here tonight. Not only are they all my friends, but some of them are like my sisters and my family. I’ve known them since I was 18 and to come back and play for this today and make some money for charity and to share it with you guys who just love netball is amazing.
“People who know me know I’m just the biggest netball geek and off court I’m quite to myself. Thank you so much for doing this, thank you for raising money for Shooting Star Chase Hospice and for sharing it with these guys because it was just fantastic tonight!”
“When I first won my Super Cup there was about 50 people in a hall in Blackpool and we used to laugh that it was just my Mum, Dad and the Dunns! The fact that it’s now changed, there’s so many people that want to watch, there’s kids that want to grow up and one day be on this court – 2016 is going to be a big year for netball and please continue to help us make it boom because it is going places!”
Greenway will now continue as Director of Netball at Surrey Storm and Surrey Sports Park as Storm prepare for the start of the Vitality Netball Superleague at Super Saturday vs Team Bath on Saturday 30 January.
Match Lineups
Team Blue
Tamsin Greenway
Rachel Dunn
Pamela Cookey
Sara Bayman
Clare Elsley
Stacey Francis
Kathryn Ratnapala
Bianca Modeste
Naomi Taylor
Adele Modeste
Coaches: Tom Reseigh, Hayley Adcock, Emily Wise
Team Purple
Hannah Reid
Lindsay Keable
Natalie Seaton
Katt Ainsworth
Becky Trippick
Gemma Cosentino
Abs Dewberry
Karen Atkinson
Katie Harris
Georgie Fisher
Coaches: Mel Mansfield, Amanda Newton
Quarter Scores:
Q1: Team Blue: 19 – 16 Team Purple
Q2: Team Blue: 33 – 32 Team Purple
Q3: Team Blue: 48 – 44 Team Purple
Q4: Team Blue: 68 – 58 Team Purple
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