Thursday 31 October 2019 13:54, UK
Fran Williams and Josie Huckle have renewed their contracts at Wasps Netball ahead of the defence of their Vitality Netball Superleague title in 2019.
The duo follow fellow defensive pairing Amy Flanagan and Sam May in re-joining Wasps, who will be led by new head coach Mel Mansfield next year.
Williams has recently been selected for the England Roses programme for the first time and the 20-year-old is seen as a future star of the national side.
"It's a very exciting time for me and the next season will be a huge one, both with Wasps and being part of the Roses programme," Williams, the England U21 captain, said.
"I'm still developing as a player and I have loved my time at Wasps so far - the next step for me will be to have more time on court and a consistent starting role.
"I'm looking forward to working closely with Mel too. She has always given me great support off the court and it will be good to work with her to continue to develop my game."
Huckle has started taking her first steps into coaching aged 26, working with the U17 set-up, but is targeting having a big impact as a player in 2019.
"It's like a family at Wasps and after some good conversations with Mel, I decided this was the perfect place for me to be," said Huckle.
"She was very honest with me, very organised and thinks how I think - it will be good to play under her next season.
"We have massively grown as a team over the last three years and we're focused on defending our title. I've won four Superleagues in a row now and I intend to make it five.
"I didn't have as much time on court as I would have liked last year but I'm looking forward to getting more game-time in the upcoming season and building a partnership with Fran."
