Duffy’s determination lands her in S’pore

SINGAPORE — When Ireland’s goal shooter Frances Duffy sank her first shot against Singapore yesterday at the Netball Nations Cup match, she started feeling a surge of emotions within.

The 20-year-old — a final-year law student at the Manchester Metropolitan University — went on to score another 12 goals but Singapore eventually prevailed 52-37.

Yet, the score did not matter to Duffy, who earned her first international cap at the packed OCBC Arena yesterday. What meant more to her was how she managed to get to play here after being called up to the national team in June.

Duffy, who is also the youngest in her squad, spent the past three months desperately sourcing for funding and sponsorship to cover her travel costs and other training expenses to make it to Singapore.

The 1.77m tall player did not manage to get enough funding in the end, and had to fork out about €700 (S$1,060) from her own pocket to make her Singapore trip come true.

She, however, got help from her university, which contributed about €500. Her family, she said, was also supportive and helped her out.

“As a student, it’s hard to find that sort of money,” she said. “Netball Ireland doesn’t get a lot of funding so we fund ourselves for the most part basically.

“Netball is not played in most schools in Ireland. It is a big difference coming from England and then you go to Ireland (to play netball). It is just nothing out there, but I am trying to cope because I want to play netball for my country for as long as possible.”

Duffy — who plays club netball for Sheffield Hallam — received her national call-up after her university netball coach recommended her to Ireland’s coach Joan Young. A star player for her university team, Duffy regularly shone at school tournaments.

“I got called up in June, and now I am in Singapore. It has been mad,” she said. “We had a few weekends in the UK (to train), so we’ve been to Newcastle, and Leeds, and we also had a game last weekend against Northern Ireland U-21s.

“I think I’ve trained (with the national team) for about twice or three times, so I was just kind of like thrown into the deep end here, but it’s been fantastic. The team is lovely. I haven’t quite got a team like that back where I was from. It is just different playing with a national side. I am based in England, so obviously I fly out to Ireland to train.”

Duffy is just hoping to make the most out of her tournament experience in Singapore. She also knows that playing for Ireland will only get tougher now that she is entering into her third and final year of law studies, with her examinations coming up next May, but she is not too worried.

“People often go how do you do it (balancing both sports and studies). Actually, it’s about so much planning and a lot of dedication.

“Some of my friends don’t understand why I’m not going out drinking and staying in a lot. But it is about what I want to do (play netball) and what I enjoy doing, so hopefully I am able to play for Ireland for a really long time.” ADELENE WONG