Thursday 6 February 2020 16:28, UK
In her latest column, George Fisher brings you up to speed with a busy Christmas period, Saracens Mavericks' pre-season campaign and England's Vitality Nations Cup competition.
The last time I left you, at the beginning of December, I was off to Bath for the BIG Showdown and Manchester the following weekend with Saracens Mavericks for pre-season match ups.
It was a great chance to get out on court and try out loads of different combinations. We had an awesome couple of days and met Bath in the final of the Showdown, I'm happy to say we came away as winners in Bath and runners-up in Manchester.
They call these pre-season 'friendlies' but I've always struggled with that name as they are all always massively competitive and there's nothing 'friendly' about them, well not on court anyway!
As 'The Fishers', we usually go away every Christmas, it's the only time we are all off together so always quality family time.
However, this year we decided to stay home, although my mum and dad took us all to Poland for five days a couple of weeks before Christmas as our Christmas present.
I love history and we visited Auschwitz and Birkenau, which was extremely humbling and a thought-provoking experience and one that I am so pleased we did.
The Christmas markets were magical and we loved trying all the local food from the stalls. We ate in many restaurants and I really like Zurek, which is a type of soup served in a sour dough bread bowl.
So, Christmas at home and in typical 'Fisher Style' my dad brought the iron garden table and chairs into the living room for dinner, I'm thankful he did not try and bring the umbrella in too!
I flew to Budapest Boxing Day for a mini break, which I really enjoyed, but back for training on December 29.
Then, it was January and straight into training with England in preparation for the home Vitality Nations Cup, which I am pleased to say I was selected for. It was a great competition and I loved that we played in three different venues.
The squad was together 24/7 and each time I had a different roommate - Fran, Nat P, Amy and Raz all had the pleasure of my company and my untidiness…. Oops!!
Although we did not make it into the first versus second play-off, I was pleased we medalled in this first Vitality Nations Cup.
Nat (Haythornthwaite) was an absolutely amazing captain, she filled each team talk with poems and fired us up with the hunger to win. The fans did not disappoint they were so loud at all three venues and it was great to meet so many of you. Thank you all so much!
Every arena was electric but for me coming home to London and playing at the Copper Box is always just that extra little bit special. It was so loud you could not even hear the whistle on court, and it was such an honour to be a part of this squad.
There are so many great memories on tour - even when it's a home tour. My absolute favourite part of any international competition, standing singing the national anthem before the games. It makes me so proud, I sing it so loudly and thankfully you guys can't hear my dulcet tones (although the camera does get close)!
Congratulations to Amy on getting her first cap and Nat getting her 50th. There is also always lots of fun with Paul Dring [our team manager] doing or saying something crazy every day!
Fun Fact - The same weekend six years ago Fran Williams and I played in our first ever England U17 Euros and got our first U17 caps. It's been quite a journey that I'm proud to have shared with her.
So, competition over and back home to my fur babies, I've really missed them and enjoyed lots of cuddle time before going back to Uni.
This past Saturday saw the launch of our new Saracens Mavericks kit and wow am I loving the new dresses!
We were presented with them at a meet and greet with our volunteers and season ticket holders. I'm sure they are going to be lucky dresses this season as we wore them Saturday night in our 'friendly' against Wasps and took the win.
Now I'm looking forward to February 22 for the Vitality Netball Superleague season opener in Birmingham. Hopefully I'll see you there.
Well that's it from me for now - I've got a dissertation to write!
