300 and counting!

Jackie Milsom, Loughborough Lightning Team Manager, celebrated 20 years and 300 appearances with the side earlier this season. We asked her how it all came about.

How did you get started at Loughborough?

I was involved with Derbyshire Netball as a player and manager and then the pathway changed with the establishment of the Netball Super League below the national team. So, at Derbyshire, as the leading team in the East Midlands, we approached Loughborough University with the idea of becoming one of the founder franchises, leading to a number of the Derbyshire players joining Loughborough Lightning and me becoming Team Manager in its first year in 2005-06.

Apart from managing Lightning, what are your hobbies?

I am retired now and in addition to my role as Team Manager, I spend time with my very understanding husband Mike, and we garden, go walking and travelling, as well as looking after our four grandchildren. Due to a knee injury, I now participate in Walking Netball, but occasionally still like to play the odd game of traditional netball for a local team!

What have the biggest changes been over your 20 years?

I think media interest, professionalism, and player welfare. Back at the start, there was almost no national media coverage and limited supporting services and staff. Now the team is backed by full resources of the university, including coaches, S&C, physio, sports psychology, nutrition and so on.

Today, every match is televised, you have social media, podcasts from players, a focus on tactics, and the celebration of key achievements, whereas back then there was very little broadcast coverage, and records of fixtures, results and players were few and far between.

What are your personal highlights?

Lightning becoming NSL champions in 2021 after coming so close in 2017 and 2018. And personally, becoming the first NSL Team Manager to reach 300 games.

How emotional were you at the milestone game?

I felt very proud to reach. It was celebrated at Loughborough with a presentation and thank you video with clips from past and present players and coaches from around the world. It was very emotional for me that they had all taken time to thank me! I would really like to thank all the staff and players from my time at Loughborough for their love and support, and to all the other people at other franchises, plus the umpires, assessors and table officials that make netball one big family. Perhaps there will be a few more years in me – maybe!