A 3 week break away from netball seemed just a little too long for most of Tigers this Easter break, so the planned visit to watch a Netball Super League game came just at the right time.

This Saturday, 19th April, just before everyone stuffs their face with chocolate eggs, the Tigers took a ‘ambush’ of nearly 40 players, parents and followers down to The Hertfordshire Sports Village to watch the home team London Mavericks take on last years champs, Loughborough Lightening. But we didn’t simple turn up, we went in true Bedford Tigers fashion … loud and proud.
Meeting before hand to get our Tiger’s war paint and outfits ready we took to Hertfordshire as a sea of black and orange, with everything from tiger ears, face paints, Pom poms and more tiger print then you could shake a stick at!

I think it is safe to say adult and kids alike had a great time and had a real opportunity to further cement the bonding this team has created in a short space of time, from spending time in the Fan Zone beforehand, practicing their netball skills and playing some bulldog to photographs throughout the Sport Village. The highlight for mst of the girls was taking to the court at the end of the game and getting an opportunity to have a photograph with the entire London Maverick teams and spending some time searching for autographs and photo opportunities with their favourite players.
A well deserved reward for certainly being the most enthusiastic, loudest and brightest tribe attending this bank holiday weekend.

The game itself was close fought and with the will of the fans we thought the Mav’s might just be strong enough to take it but despite a hard fought battle London Mavericks lost this one 57-69 but this didn’t dampen anyone spirits as eventually we all trickled back to Bedfordshire … to face our new found fame I have no doubt, given we all played staring roles on, none other then Sky Sports itself. This year the games being televised on Sky sports and the camera’s just couldn’t keep away from the chants and dancing from the corner of the court where we were clearly the Mav’s biggest supporters.

The game can be found on ‘catch up’ or on Sky Sports YouTube channel to run the fun all back again. That’s certainly how we spent our Easter Sunday morning, cheering every time a Tiger was onscreen.

What a thoroughly pleasant and wholesome day had and we are keen to replicate some of these trips moving forward.
Let’s hope the girls have taken a few tips and tricks of their own away for next weekend as some of them start in cup and league matches again … not sure we would get away with some of the physicality though.

thank you London Mavericks for entertaining us and doing a fantastic job. We will look forward to coming back soon!

*Members, check out our album for all the photos from the day, click on ‘media’ from the website to get access.