Gold Coast 2018 sees Scotland’s Netball team make their second Commonwealth Games appearance, after their debut at Glasgow 2014. Our final Sport Focus spotlight will be on Netball all week, culminating in a Commonwealth Games themed celebration on Friday 16 March as the Sirens take on Severn Stars in the Vitality Netball Superleague at Glasgow’s Emirates Arena and live on Sky Sports.

Look out for all things Netball on Team Scotland’s website and social channels this week as the sport takes the spotlight in our Sport Focus Series, which features each of the 18 sports on the Gold Coast 2018 programme through athlete interviews, facts & figures, competition news and more.

Netball at the Commonwealth Games

Netball is a Commonwealth Games core sport for women only and has been included since the Kuala Lumpur 1998 Games. Scotland fielded a team for the first time at Glasgow 2014, taking 9th place, and return for Gold Coast 2018 looking to improve on that finish.

Australia and New Zealand have dominated the sport, contesting all five finals to date, with Australia taking gold in 1998, 2002 and 2014 and New Zealand the victors in 2006 and 2010. England and Jamaica are the only other nations to win a Netball medal – England bronze medallists on three occasions and Jamaica twice.

Find out more about Netball in the Commonwealth Games, including the competition format, rules and equipment on our dedicated Netball page.

Team Scotland 2018

Netball have selected an exciting squad of 12 players, with an even split of youth and experience. Six return from the Glasgow 2014 team, including Claire Brownie who will captain the team in Gold Coast, vice-captain Lynsey Gallagher and stalwart Hayley Mulheron, who has over 100 caps for the National side. Of the six athletes making their Games debut, three are age 20 or younger; Bethany Sutherland who captained the 2017 World Youth Cup team to eighth place, Beth Goodwin, named Player of the Tournament on her senior debut at 2017 Netball Europe and Niamh McCall, the first player born in the 2000s to receive a senior cap.

The squad received a boost with the news that, after a string of outstanding results, they have moved to 9th place on the most recent World rankings. The team are drawn in Pool B in Gold Coast with New Zealand, England, Malawi, Wales and Uganda.

Click here to meet the full Netball team for Gold Coast 2018.

A total of 211 athletes have been named to Team Scotland for Gold Coast 2018 to date, with athletes announced in all sports except Rugby 7s where players will be confirmed later this month.

Show Your Support!

You can show your support by uploading photos and messages on our supporters page and give Team Scotland’s athletes a boost as they prepare to do the country proud on one of sport’s biggest stages!

Look out for other ways to get behind the team in the countdown to Gold Coast on Team Scotland’s social media channels.

Scotland at the Commonwealth Games

The Commonwealth Games is the only occasion where Scotland gets to compete in a multi-sport event as a nation in its own right and is one of only six countries to have competed in every Commonwealth Games since their inception in Hamilton in 1930. Represented by 15 athletes participating in six sports at those first Games, winning a very creditable 10 medals, Scotland have gone on to win medals at every Games since.

Edinburgh became the first city to hold the Games twice in 1970 and 1986 and also became the first city to host the Commonwealth Youth Games.

Scotland hosted the Games for a third time when Glasgow welcomed athletes and officials to the XXth Commonwealth Games which was held from 23rd July – 3rd August 2014. Team Scotland celebrated their most successful Games in history, winning a total of 53 medals.

Find out more about the Commonwealth Games and Team Scotland’s past success in our Past Games section.