Europa Shield 2016: Caitlin Fitzgerald Interview

Ahead of the Europa Shield we spoke with Bec and England senior International Caitlin Fitzgerald.

“Preparation for the Europa Shield this year has been going well. The team has continued to develop this season with the addition of Helen [West] proving to be a positive.

“Each week in the league we have been scoring well with goals coming from every player on the pitch. We have been utilising several different styles of play and will look to replicate this in Germany.

“We will enter the tournament expecting to win our group. Our first game is the same as last year, against TuS Schildgen. This was a tight game for us in 2015 but this year we are a more experienced team with the confidence that we will beat them again.

“The other tough game in our group will be against Castellbisbal from Catalonia. At International level games between England and Catalonia are always tight, so we’re expecting a similar challenge at the Europa Shield.

“The depth of our squad and the addition of rolling subs will be something we look to utilise in these games and I think this will give us the edge over the other teams.

“Overall the squad is feeling very positive about the upcoming tournament and we expect nothing less than to come back with the trophy.

Bec’s first match at the Europa Shield is at 11:40 GMT on Friday (22 January); you can watch the match through the online live-stream on worldkorfball.org.