THEY are still based in Newcastle, and still play in black and white, but when Team Northumbria take to the netball court this season, they will do so with a distinctly Northern Irish twang.

The North-East’s only Super League team have signed a ground-breaking agreement with the Northern Irish authorities that will see seven members of the Northern Ireland national team join Team Northumbria ahead of this summer’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

The septet are still based in Belfast, but will travel across the Irish Sea for matches, with Team Northumbria now under the joint control of dual coaches Kate Carpenter, who will coach the Northern Irish players in Northern Ireland, and Lisa Stanley-Craig, who will be in charge of things in Newcastle.

The arrangement in an unusual one, but after Team Northumbria finished bottom of the Super League table in 2013, the hope is that it will prove mutually beneficial.

The Northern Irish players will gain some much-needed match practice ahead of the Commonwealth Games, while the five members of last season’s Team Northumbria squad who have been retained will benefit from playing alongside seasoned internationals.

“We’re really looking forward to seeing how it all works out,” said Darlington’s Leah Kennedy, who is one of the domestic players based full-time in Newcastle. “It’s a new direction for all of us, but it’s really added some interest and focus to the team.

“It’s been a bit of a challenge melding what was previously two different teams together, but the Northern Irish girls have bought into it and, although it’s early days, it seems to be working okay.

“The coaches are in constant contact, and we do exactly the same training sessions at exactly the same time. There’s even been talk of using something like Skype so it’ll almost be like we’re in the same hall.

“We played our first game at Bath last weekend, who are traditionally the strongest team in the league, and although we lost 59-45, we were much more competitive than we’d been in the same game last season.”

The decision to enter into a partnership with Northern Ireland reflects, to a large extent, the difficulties inherent in trying to attract England internationals to the North-East.

English Netball’s three ‘intensive training centres’ are based in Bath, London and Manchester, so members of the England squad would rather play for southern-based franchises or in the North-West as that makes it easier to attend the regular national training sessions.

Geographically, Team Northumbria are out on a limb, and Kennedy has seen a succession of talented players leave the North-East in an attempt to further their international ambitions.

“There’s lots of us that have been involved in England squads at under-17 and under-19 level, but once it gets beyond that, you’re left with a difficult decision to make,” said Kennedy, who played netball at Darlington’s Carmel College, and for Oakway in Hartlepool, before moving to Newcastle to study media, culture and society at Northumbria University. “If you’re wanting to play for England at senior level, there’s pressure on you to go to a university outside the north.

“That’s why we’ve often lost a lot of our good North-East players. I guess all of this is an attempt to address that and do something about it.”

Team Northumbria play their opening home game of the season against Celtic Dragons tonight, with the campaign drawing to a close in April to allow plenty of preparation time before the start of the Commonwealth Games.

With netball not featuring on the Olympic programme, the Commonwealth Games are the sport’s biggest competition, and Kennedy is hoping the Glasgow spotlight will enable the game to reach areas it would not normally touch.

“The growth of Super League has helped people become more aware of netball at an elite level,” she said. “But we still fall behind a number of other sports in terms of coverage and profile.

“Hopefully, another good Super League season and then the Commonwealth Games will help that. All the best netball nations in the world compete in the Commonwealths, and hopefully the television coverage and interest will reflect that.

“A successful England team would obviously help, although I guess I’ll be cheering on Northern Ireland as well now!”

2014 FIXTURE LIST

Jan 31 Team Bath (a) L45-59

Feb 8 Celtic Dragons (h)

Feb 10 Yorkshire Jets (a)

Feb 15 Loughborough Lightning (a)

Feb 24 Hertfordshire Mavericks (h)

Mar 1 Surrey Storm (h)

Mar 8 Manchester Thunder (a)

Mar 15 Team Bath (h)

Mar 17 Yorkshire Jets (h)

TBC Celtic Dragons (a)

Mar 28 Loughborough Lightning (h)

Apr 5 Hertfordshire Mavericks (a)

Apr 7 Manchester Thunder (h)

Apr 14 Surrey Storm (a)