Issue 140October 13

2010

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GB Goalkeepers InFitness Battles

GREAT Britain goalkeepers Laura Innes and Bobby White are bothstruggling to overcome injury at the moment, with Innes nursing a backinjury while White is battling a hip complaint.

Birmingham-basedInnes, who plays for LKZug in Switzerland, hasbeen unable to shakeoff a long-term backinjury and wasdiagnosed with twoprolapsed discs. After two weekstreatment at the BritishOlympic Association’sIntense Rehab Unit atBisham Abbey, Innesreturned to her cluband played in theChampions Leaguequalifying matches. Buther injury had not goneaway, and she hasreturned to Bisham

Abbey for moretreatment. “There is nothingworse than being toldyou can't play,” she said.

“It means so much to meas I enjoy it so much.

Hard Work “However, I am homenow to see our supportstaff and there are manypeople supporting meon the road to recovery.I have a great plan fromnow on in - I have had afacet joint injection (aninjection into the jointsin my spine) and amresting now beforereturning to BishamAbbey.

“From now on it iscontinued hard workfrom me, and with alittle bit of luck I shouldbe back playing again forGB and LK Zug as soonas possible. I am alreadyitching to be back!” Men’s teamgoalkeeper Bobby White,from Milton Keynes, hasalso been playingthrough pain, but his hipinjury is showing nosigns of getting anybetter. He is waiting to seeBritish Handball doctorPolly Baker for a completediagnosis and rehab plan. “I’m battling on, but I’mnot doing much good asmy movement is limited

and slowing me down,”said White. “It’s not sobad when I’m fullywarmed up, but justwalking to the shops isgiving me a lot of grief. “I played ten minutes onSaturday and will play thisSaturday, then I havethree weeks off beforeour training camp atCrystal Palace.”

ScottishLeague

Kicks OffTHE Scottish Men’sLeague starts this Sunday,with a new scoring systemin place which is designedto make the matchesmore exciting. With three points for awin and two for a draw,clubs can also secure alosing bonus point if theylose by ten or less,ensuring there is alwayssomething to play for inmore games. Last year’s leaguechampions Gracemountbegin their 2010-11 fixtureswith a clash againstLiberton at BlackburnCommunity Centre inWest Lothian, while othermatch taking place onSunday afternoon includeGlasgow against EastKilbride, and Tryst versusDumfries. Prior to the start of themen’s programme in theafternoon, the ScottishWomen’s Leaguecontinues in the morningat the same venue, withGlasgow playing Tryst andEast Kilbride taking onEdinburgh, starting at10.15am.

LONDON 2012Olympic mascotWenlock got a taste ofhandball action thisweek after a poll onhis website pitted theworld’s greatest sportagainst beachvolleyball. Almost 10,000 votes

were recorded forhandball atwww.mylondon2012.com/mascots, whichresulted in the mascottrying handball forhimself. Click the above link tosee Wenlock in action.

NATIONAL Leaguenewcomers LiverpoolWolves maintained theirstrong start to theseason with a 33-19victory over fellow newboys Deva at BirchwoodSports Centre on Sunday. Both teams were quickout of the blocks to putpressure on each other,and early in the matchDeva forced a string ofspectacular saves fromLiverpool’s in-formgoalkeeper Yetis Calis. The first stages of thematch saw the two teamslocked in an end-to-endbattle, with perhaps thepace forcing too many

careless turnovers andmissed opportunitiesfrom both sides. However, it wasn’t longbefore Liverpool Wolvesfound their form andeased into an early lead.Deva’s defence was highlyphysical but the Wolveswere strong on the balland managed to make themost of theiropportunities in theconstant six metre linetussles. In other action, Olympiabeat Ruislip Eagles 23-21 inthe southern section ofthe league with bothgoalkeepers Rinkeviciusand Zamani in good form.

Wolves mascot Wolfieentertained the crowdwith a penaltychallenge at half time,which was won by 11-year-old GeorgeRoberts who waspresented with a minihandball for his efforts.