Former England netball ace Sasha Corbin provides masterclass to The Perse School students

Former England international Sasha Corbin helped the Perse School netballers warm up for the new season by putting them through their paces.

The session with the first team and under-16 A squads was arranged by Perse acting head of netball Millie Diss, who had previously worked alongside Corbin while coaching with Vitality Superleague side Saracens Mavericks.

“As soon as Sasha arrived, she brought smiles to the girls’ faces and they were instantly engaged and eager to work hard,” said Diss.

“The most incredible thing was Sasha gave every girl there something to work on as an individual at one point during the session and praised them when they achieved something great. After the session, they had an opportunity to ask Sasha some questions about her career.

“This is where she instilled thoughts of being positive within the sport they all love and not letting small things knock them back.

“The drive to go out and achieve was certainly spread across us all.

“All in all, it was an incredible experience for everyone involved and one we would love to repeat should the opportunity ever arise again.”

Maddy Brooking was one of the Perse players taking part, and the upper sixth student has recently been named in the Mavericks under-19 squad, having been involved with one of the franchise’s seven Futures Academies at Bedford for the past three years.

She is now training twice a week with the Hatfield-based side as well as featuring in their team in the national Under-19 Netball Performance League.

She said: “It’s been a huge step up, but I don’t think I’ve ever enjoyed playing netball as much as I am right now. It’s really great being able to wear the Mavericks dress.”

Diss added: “The time and dedication Maddy has put into her training has been second to none. She’s never given up when she’s tired or had a lot of work to do and this commitment has certainly paid off.

“We are immensely proud of what she has achieved and she should be too. We can’t wait to see her progress even further.”