Team Northumbria is an English netball team based at

Northumbria University , mottoeng = A lifetime of learning , established = 1877 - Rutherford College of Technology1969 - Newcastle Polytechnic1992 - gained university status , type = Public , budget = ...

. Between 2001 and 2005 they played in the

Super Cup A super cup is a competition, usually but not exclusively in association football, which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competitions during the prev ...

as Northern Flames. They also played as Team Northumbria Flames. Between 2005–06 and

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, their senior team played in the

Netball Superleague The Netball Super League is a top level netball league featuring teams from the United Kingdom. The league is organised by England Netball but features teams based in Netball in England, England, Netball in Wales, Wales and Netball in Scotland, S ...

. The netball team is one of several sports teams based at Northumbria University that use the Team Northumbria brand name. Others include an

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is t ...

team and a

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular court, compete with the primary objective of shooting a basketball (approximately in diameter) through the defender's h ...

team. In 2018 Northumbria University announced it was withdrawing seven of its national league sports teams due to cuts to its elite sport programme. This included Team Northumbria withdrawing from the Netball Superleague.

History

Northern Flames

Between 2001 and 2005, Northern Flames, together with five other franchises –

London Hurricanes Surrey Storm is an English netball team based at the University of Surrey. Their senior team plays in the Netball Superleague. Between 2001 and 2005 they played in the Super Cup as London Hurricanes. After forming a partnership with Brunel Uni ...

, London Tornadoes, Team Bath Force, University of Birmingham Blaze and Northern Thunder – competed in the

. By 2005 Northern Flames had become Team Northumbria Flames.

Early Superleague seasons

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris (dwarf planet), Er ...

Team Northumbria were named as the

North East England North East England is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. The region has three current administrative levels below the region level in the region; combined authority, unitary authori ...

franchise in the new

. Together with

Brunel Hurricanes Surrey Storm is an English netball team based at the University of Surrey. Their senior team plays in the Netball Superleague. Between 2001 and 2005 they played in the Super Cup as London Hurricanes. After forming a partnership with Brunel Uni ...

Celtic Dragons Celtic Dragons are a Welsh netball team based in Cardiff. Their senior team plays in the Netball Superleague. In 2005–06 they were founder members of the league. Their best performance in the Superleague came in 2013 when they finished as r ...

, Leeds Carnegie,

Galleria Mavericks Saracens Mavericks is an English netball team based at the University of Hertfordshire in Hatfield. Their senior team plays in the Netball Superleague. In 2005–06 they were founder members of the league. They were Superleague champions i ...

, Northern Thunder,

Loughborough Lightning Loughborough Lightning may refer to one of three women's sports teams based at Loughborough University: * Loughborough Lightning (netball) * Loughborough Lightning (women's cricket) Loughborough Lightning were an English women's Twenty20 crick ...

and

Team Bath TeamBath is the University of Bath's sporting organisation. In addition to entering teams in BUCS intervarsity competitions, TeamBath has also entered teams in national leagues and competitions. Team Bath F.C. reached the first round proper of ...

, Team Northumbria were founder members of the league. Team Northumbria's best performance in the Netball Superleague came in 2007–08 when, with a team that included Megan Hutton, they finished second during the regular season, behind

, and qualified for the play-offs. Future

England national netball team The England national women's netball team, also known as the ''Vitality Roses'', represent England in international netball competition. England are coached by Jess Thirlby, and are currently captained by Natalie Metcalf. As of 1 July 2020, th ...

manager,

Tracey Neville Tracey Anne Neville (born 21 January 1977) is a former England netball international and a former England head coach. As a player, she was a member of the England teams that won bronze medals at the 1998 Commonwealth Games and the 1999 World ...

began her senior coaching career with Team Northumbria when she served as head coach for the

2011 Netball Superleague season The 2011 Netball Superleague season (known for sponsorship reasons as the FIAT Netball Superleague) was the sixth season of the Netball Superleague. The league was won by Hertfordshire Mavericks. In the grand final Hertfordshire Mavericks defeate ...

Northern Ireland

As part of their preparations for the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

, the Northern Ireland national netball team formed a partnership with Team Northumbria. This saw seven Northern Ireland internationals – Oonagh McCullough, Fionnuala Toner,

Caroline O'Hanlon Caroline O'Hanlon is a Northern Ireland netball international and an Armagh ladies' Gaelic footballer. She has also represented Ireland at international rules. She was a member of the Northern Ireland teams at the 2003, 2011 and 2019 Netball ...

, Gemma Gibney, Michelle Drayne, Noleen Lennon and Niamh Cooper – play for Team Northumbria during the

2014 Netball Superleague season The 2014 Zeo Netball Superleague season saw Manchester Thunder finish as champions for the second time. Surrey Storm finished top of the table following the regular season and remained unbeaten throughout the season until they were defeated in th ...

. With Kate Carpenter taking charge of both teams, Northern Ireland and Team Northumbria also shared a coach. Toner and O'Hanlon also played for Team Northumbria during the 2015 season.

Later years

Team Northumbria competed in the inaugural 2017

British Fast5 Netball All-Stars Championship The British Fast5 Netball All-Stars Championship is a Fast5 netball pre-season tournament featuring teams from the Netball Superleague. The rules of the tournament are similar, though not identical, to the Fast5 Netball World Series. In 2017 Lou ...

. In July 2018

announced it was withdrawing seven of its national league sports teams due to cuts to its elite sport programme. This included Team Northumbria withdrawing from the

London Pulse London Pulse is an English netball team based at the Copper Box Arena in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford, London. Since 2019 their senior team has played in the Netball Superleague. History National Performance League London Pulse was ...

would subsequently replace them for the 2019 season. In addition to playing in the Netball Superleague, Team Northumbria has also represented Northumbria University in the Stan Calvert Cup. Team Northumbria continue to enter teams in intervarsity leagues organised by

British Universities and Colleges Sport British Universities & Colleges Sport (BUCS) is the governing body for higher education sport in the United Kingdom. BUCS was formed in June 2008 following a merger of British Universities Sports Association (BUSA) and University College Sport ...

Home venue

Northern Flames played their home games at Gateshead Leisure Centre. Team Northumbria plays its home games at

's Sport Central.

Notable former players

Internationals

; *

Ama Agbeze Ama Agbeze (born 12 November 1982) is an England netball international. She was captain when England won the gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. In 2019 she received an for her services to netball. She was also a member of the England ...

* Leah Kennedy ; ; *

Carla Dziwoki Carla Dziwoki (born 29 August 1982) is a former Australian netball player. Dziwoki played with the Queensland Firebirds in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy. She played for Team Northumbria in the 2008–09 Netball Superleague for the . She al ...

; * Shanice Beckford *

Nicole Dixon Nicole Dixon (born 3 February 1995) is a Jamaican netball player. She was part of the Jamaican squad that won bronze at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and was an unused reserve member (not a part of the official squad) of the 2014 team. In 2017, ...

; *

Belinda Colling Belinda Louise Colling (born 12 September 1975)Zealand Olympic Comm ...

; * Hayley Mulheron

Head coaches

References

External links

Team Northumbria on Twitter
{{Netball Superleague Netball teams in England Defunct Netball Superleague teams

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...