BiG Showdown: 'Netball's Wenger' Gunson honoured at Bath

Former England and Bath coach Lyn Gunson will be honoured at this weekend's BiG Showdown event.

The New Zealander has had the Showdown trophy named after her in recognition of her work at Bath University.

Gunson, 65, England's coach at the 2002 Commonwealth Games, is known as the 'Wenger of netball' because of her revolutionary coaching style.

"Her coaching philosophy was like a breath of fresh air," said current England coach Jess Thirlby.

"She created an environment where we could explore, take ownership and innovate the way we wanted to play the game," said Thirlby, who was mentored by Gunson.

"Making mistakes and thinking creatively was encouraged."

After captaining and coaching New Zealand in 110 games - winning 100 of them - Gunson arrived at Bath as a postgraduate student and coached the college for 10 years (1999-2008).

She also took the England job and helped the team emerge as a netball power after being regularly outclassed by southern hemisphere nations in the 1990s.

She worked with England stars including Tamsin Greenway, Geva Mentor, Pamela Cookey, Eboni Usoro-Brown and Sasha Corbin during her time in the country.

Greenway says Gunson was "the best coach I ever had. She taught us how to train properly, through fitness and skills - and toughened us up".

"She developed 'thinking' players, and a safe environment in which to check, challenge and learn," added Usoro-Brown.

The Showdown, netball's annual pre-season tournament, is a curtain-raiser for the 2020 Superleague season, which starts in January.

The three-team format has been expanded to six and includes an appearance for the Knights, an all-male team that has played most of the Superleague teams already and has also provided training opposition for New Zealand.

Sunday's games at Bath:

09.30: Bath v Saracens; 10.30: Surrey v Strathclyde; 11.30: Knights v Severn; 12.30: Bath v Surrey; 13.30: Knights v Strathclyde; 14.30: Severn v Saracens; 15.45: Final

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