Feb 24, 2022
Elite athletes go head-to-head in a fun friendly at Copper Box Arena
Earlier this week, the Copper Box Arena invited senior squad members from Dive London, who regularly train at the London Aquatic Centre, to take part in a session with the professional Netball players from the Copper Box Arena’s London Pulse team.
This was a great opportunity to embrace elite sport across both the GLL Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park venues. It was an action-packed and exciting session that was very much enjoyed by the divers and the London Pulse players, who coached the divers during the session.
This session followed a fantastic win for London Pulse at their first game back Copperbox on Monday night against Wasps. Even with their busy schedules, the athletes were able to find the time to support this netball session for the squad from Dive London. Sacha and Tayla, who led the session for the Dive London squad, both play for London Pulse and also live in the Manhattan Lofts on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park
Sacha McDonald, professional netball player for London Pulse explained how “it was lovely to mix with athletes we don’t usually overlap with. We had some fun with ball and match skills and I think Tayla and I ended up having as much fun as the divers!”
Alex Rochas, Head Coach at Dive London confirmed saying “it was a great experience for the dive team, we can’t thank the London Pulse team enough” and this was echoed by squad member Grace Reid saying “it was super fun and great to try something different”.
Russ Barnes, Partnership Manager at GLL for the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park venues, reiterated how “this was an amazing opportunity to get two of our elite partners training together. London Pulse athletes Sacha and Tayla were fantastic and all of the divers thoroughly enjoyed a different training session.”
Sam Bird, CEO & Director of Netball for London Pulse reiterated how “it's always great to work with other elite athletes that train on the Olympic Park”.
Sacha and Tayla will be taking to the arena on Saturday at their next home game at the Copper Box Arena with London Pulse against Celtic Dragons this coming Saturday. If you’re keen to see the team in action then grab your tickets here.