Captain Claire Faram gives her thoughts ahead of Opening Day

Team Rise Captain, Claire Faram has been sharing her thoughts ahead of the opening weekend of The Fly and her reaction to being named captain by Head Coach Katy Hudson.

“I was really excited when Katy asked me to captain because obviously there's some amazing players on this team but I'm really excited to lead and help create an atmosphere of fun and hopefully we can come out with some good results.

“I think the main thing is we just want to enjoy it. We've got a really good group of girls so we're just excited to get together and as captain hopefully I can contribute as a leader but also as a player.”

Faram is also particularly looking forward to the prospect of working with Head Coach Katy Hudson, a 2-time World Championship medal winner with England.

“I actually remember watching Katy play when I was probably about 12 years old at Stockport Lacrosse Club when she was in an England shirt and just thinking she's the most incredible attacker, so to be able to learn from someone that I've looked up to for my whole career is something pretty special.

“Being able to look up to another England player that's got a ton of experience and loads of World Cups under her belt is really exciting and I think she's going to be great for the team at The Fly.”

Although there’s not been too much opportunity to try out the 6s game so far, Faram is hopeful that the new format will suit her style of play.

"Athleticism comes into it a lot - it's a different type of fitness than perhaps what we're used to playing on a bigger field and it's a lot more similar to basketball in that respect,” she said.

“As a midfielder I like to play at both ends so actually you know it's something that I'm excited for being able to use basically my style of play but with less running in the middle so I'm kind of happy about that in that respect because it's a shorter runs against the attack.”

“In terms of the overall team, being able to play physical but disciplined defence is going to be a big challenge - it's definitely something that we talked about in our meetings and then on attack it's making sure that you can be creative enough to generate shots with shot clock as you are under pressure.”

With a Team Rise squad containing players from across England, Scotland and Wales, Faram and the team have the opportunity to play with players they would usually regard as opposition.

“It's really good to have a combination of home nations players in there because often we find ourselves playing against each other and you know each other’s strengths and you're able now to use them to your advantage so we're excited to have all three nations working together.”

And while Faram is looking forward to joining up with some uncommon teammates, there’s also been the members of the England squad now coming up against each other which has caused some friendly rivalries at training weekends.

“When we first got to squad people started dishing the chat out a bit, but we'll have to see who can follow it up!

“Across all the teams you've got girls who know each other and can give each other bit of chat but I think it will be really good spirited.

“I think everyone will be really up for it and it's going to be really competitive tournament you can tell just by looking at the teams they are all so strong so it'll be interesting to to see how it all works out and hopefully we can all put on a good show.”

As well as playing with the other home nations at The Fly, Faram is also one of the few players to have represented Great Britain in international competition as a member of the 2017 World Games squad and would relish the chance to get represent once more.

“It was an incredible experience putting on a GB shirt sort and it was it was amazing to go to the event and see all the different sports that were there meet a lot of the athletes and it had a real kind of Olympic feel about it.

“Looking to Team GB in the World Games, if I'm lucky enough to get picked for it alongside the World Championship then that would be a dream.

“With GB having even more players competing for those places and fewer places to compete for, you know whatever team gets picked at the end of it is is going to be deserving and I think whether I'm going or not I'll definitely be a fan.”