Everyone dreams of representing their country and playing against the best in the world. At only 17yrs old, Sophie Morgan has done just that!

Sophie recently represented Wales in the U21 World Championships in The Cook Islands.

This is her story:

After a long and never ending journey, or so it felt, of 26hours in the air we finally arrived in the Cook Islands (Rarotonga) to be greeted by a local primary school (Papaaroa) who had adopted us as a country. They were singing and dancing, it was so sweet. We were presented with head garlands, leis and shells by the children. It was a very heart warming experience, one that will never be forgotten.

After a good rest we were back to focusing on netball. Our first training session was on the 8th at the Telecom Arena. Later on that day we had the opportunity to play a warm-up match against New Zealand. This was an amazing opportunity for us and was incredible to play against the 1st ranked team.

We finished a disappointing 3rd in the group stages which meant us playing Samoa in the 9th - 16th play-offs. We were beaten by 1 goal which sent us into 13th - 16th play-off, eventually finishing 13th after a brilliant game against Singapore.

The highlight of the Championships for me was the opening game against the Cook Islands which followed the opening ceremony. It was a really emotional occasion, I played 3 quarters, started nervously but thoroughly enjoyed it. The atmosphere in the Arena throughout the tournament was amazing, the Cook Islanders were so friendly and welcoming. It was an amazing experience, one I will never forget!


Thanks for sharing your experience with us Sophie, it must have been amazing!!