CAITLIN PRINGLE always had netball in her blood. She just didn’t know it until she became a player herself.
The 27 year-old took the decision to give up badminton in 2017 after representing Scotland at the Commonwealth Games and reverted to a sport she hadn’t played since her schooldays.
Undertaking a trial at Bellahouston led to the discovery that not only had her mum played for the same club but that two of her aunties had been international netball players, too.
Pringle’s involvement in the sport grew too and last October she was given the chance to sign for Strathclyde Sirens, Scotland’s biggest female semi-pro sports team.
Injury has so far prevented the Glaswegian from featuring on court at the start of this Superleague season but she takes pride in being able to carry on the family netball tradition.
“When I started back with the sport I hadn’t anticipated reaching the level of playing with the Sirens this season,” she admits.
“It was a long-term goal but it’s maybe arrived quicker than I thought seeing I’ve only been playing netball for three and a bit years.
“It’s weird as when I started out I didn’t even know that two of my aunts had played netball for Scotland – I’m not sure why nobody had told me that before!
“And then when I went to have a trial at Bellahouston I didn’t tell anyone. And it was only after when I was discussing it with my mum that she told me she had played for the same club.
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“After I joined there were people coming up and telling me all about my mum and my aunties and what that they had done in the sport.
“So as well as learning about netball I was learning all about my family’s history as well. I know now where my competitive streak comes from!”
The list of elite athletes who have made the switch from one sport to another and excelled in both is a fairly small one.
But Pringle is undeterred as she sets her sights on representing Scotland in two Commonwealth Games in different disciplines.
“There are a lot of skills in badminton that are transferable to netball,” she explained. “There’s a lot of changing direction, explosive movement and jumping. And as a goalkeeper, the defensive skills I learned in badminton come in handy, too.
“I had played netball at school so I had a rough idea of what was involved although it had been eight or nine years and I couldn’t remember all of the rules!
“When I started off I didn’t know how good I could be as it had been so long. I wondered if I had left it too late to change so I was really just playing for fun to begin with.
“And now the more I’ve got into it, I’m looking at Birmingham 2022 and thinking, “why not?” I’d obviously have to show that I deserve a place and it’s early days yet but I would absolutely love that if I could compete at another Commonwealth Games.”
Pringle was just 20 when she competed at Glasgow in 2014 and it, understandably, remains a career highlight.
She gradually grew disillusioned with the politics in the sport and gave it up in 2017. It was a tough decision but there are no regrets.
“Being part of the team at Glasgow was unbelievable. I’ve never experienced anything like that with the crowds and having your family there,” she admits.
“The plan then had been for my partner and I to work towards competing in the 2018 Games on Gold Coast too.
“But around that time there were a lot of things that weren’t sitting well with us and we had lost our love for the sport to a degree.
“There was too much going on in the background and we weren’t getting supported in the same. The 2017 world championships were in Glasgow and we thought that would be a pretty special way to bow out. At that point we were both happy to call it a day.”
As well as her ongoing rehab from her knee injury, Pringle is trying to fit in time to complete her studies as a maths teacher.
“We were meant to be out on placement just now but with the situation with the schools we’ve not been able to do that yet which is a bit frustrating,” she admits.
“But hopefully we’ll get an extended placement before the summer which is when I am due to graduate. And then hopefully I can get a job as a probationer teacher in August.
“It’s a wee bit tricky trying to fit it all but hopefully I’ll find a way to juggle it going forward so I can keep committing to netball and pushing that forward.”
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