Jane helps Swiss national netball team stay in game

She became involved with ‘Netball Swiss’ after her experience on the medical team at the Paralympics lead to an invitation to Switzerland to assist with the treatment of the Swiss trampoline team in preparation for the World Championships.

During this trip, she was put in contact with the president of the Swiss Netball team, who asked her to be the Primary carer for the team – a job usually taken by a physiotherapist.

Jane’s first task was to travel to Geneva, Switzerland, for the teams’ selection weekend, where she assessed both the U17 and open ladies teams for fitness and injury.

Her assessments helped pick the final team who would take part in the championship.

Several weeks later Jane meet up with the team again in Worcester for the championships. Ankle, knee and finger injuries are common in netball, so she was kept busy all weekend treating the team, and strapping and taping the players to help prevent further injuries.

During each match Jane, who is also qualified in pitch-side first aid, was on the team bench, and was the only person allowed on court during injury time.

Jane had 2 minutes to assess the injury, give first aid, and decide if the player was fit to continue. After each match she would lead the team through a series of cool down stretches, before supervising them in the ice-baths – a first time experience for some of the girls, and with the water at only 6 degrees, Jane was very grateful that she didn’t have to go in with them.

On her experience, Jane commented ‘after dealing with one of the players fracturing her finger at the selection weekend, I was very relieved that there were no injuries this time.’

She added ‘The Swiss team have a great crowd supporters, who all ring their cow bells during the match – it gets very loud at times! It’s a huge honour to be involved with a national team, and to be part of an international sporting event.’