By James Reid
Amy Carter is relishing the responsibility of stepping up as captain for Manchester Thunder ahead of the new Netball Super League season.
Carter will lead her side into a new era of domestic netball, with the NSL relaunched ahead of the 2025 season in a bid to move towards a fully professional league.
It means there have been plenty of changes in the off season, including a reduction to the number of teams and squad sizes, while minimum salaries for players and the number of matches on TV have both increased.
But one thing that has stayed the same is Thunder’s title ambitions, and Carter is confident her side can hit the ground running in the new league.
“I am captaining this year, which is a new journey for me," she said.
"I am excited to see where we can go with this team. We made the final last year but we want to go one better this year.
“Karen [Greig, head coach] asked me originally and I first went ‘I’ll think about it’, which I don’t know if most people would, but I wanted to give it its own due diligence and make sure I could take on that responsibility.
“It took me a little bit of time and Karen was twiddling her thumbs a little bit wanting an answer soon, and I said I really wanted to do it.
“I like having good standards and if we are not playing well enough I will just name it. I want to lead by example and lead with curiosity.”
Carter leads a much-changed squad from last year’s Grand Final defeat, with only five of the 12 players from that day available to head coach Karen Greig when Thunder get their season underway against Loughborough Lightning, a repeat of the Grand Final, on 16 March at the AO Arena in Manchester.
Lois Pearson and Nicola Smith will both miss the start of the season through injury and Thunder will be without Natalie Metcalf for the whole of the season because of pregnancy.
But Carter insists expectations are no different and backs the strong Thunder pathway to help get them into the play-offs come June.
"We have always got to aim to win,” she said. “I have experienced when we have had big injuries, a completely different starting seven and we have always made top four, so our aim is to make the play-offs and then win from there.
“We do like to win and we have that northern grittiness that we are hard-working, a bit filthy in training but you need that to deal with it on matchday.
“There is a good backing in grassroots netball in the north west. There are lots of really good clubs that feed into Manchester Thunder. You also need the coaching at a good standard, and we have got that in the pathway.
“With Thunder, you progress through and when you are ready for the next level you are really ready.
“I am never concerned when there are injuries or people moving to different clubs, we have those foundations really strong at Thunder.”
Carter combines her netball with a career as a doctor, and while the 26-year-old is proud of the balance she has managed to strike, the mid-courter is looking forward to the opportunity to commit herself fully to netball in the near future.
“I have really enjoyed my dual career so far,” she added. “When I have a focus on one, I have a distraction from the other.
"It just keeps my mind ticking over. I am not the type of person who likes routine, I like doing lots of different things. It takes the pressure off.
“I will be finishing my foundation years this summer. I will probably then just have a year of netball and see where it can take me, fully commit to all the sessions. Hopefully I will have a bit more time to focus on the netball.”
