Collins back at Cardiff helm and poised to return to playing

Cardiff Met Archers confirmed their coach line-up for the 2020-21 WBBL season over the weekend.

WBBL veteran and GB International Stef Collins will be returning to the Archers for another season as Head Coach whilst Alex Radu will act as Associate Head Coach and Luke Strong as Assistant Coach.

“It’s great to be returning for another season with the Archers,” said Collins. “Things certainly look and feel a little differently in comparison to this time last year but, like so many of us, we’re all very excited to get back on court and play the game we love.

“I’m very pleased to have Alex Radu returning for the Archers so we can continue our momentum from the end of last season. In addition, Luke worked with us as our Performance Analyst lead in 2019-20 and we’re excited to have him join us in his new role.

“We’ve already been underway with plenty of zoom calls and workouts in which I must extend a massive thank you to our incredible S&C coaches at Cardiff Met, Dai Watts and Chris Edwards, for all their continued support to the players during the pandemic.”

Collins also revealed she hopes to make a return to playing for Archers as well as her coaching responsibilities, after undergoing knee surgery.

“I’m hopeful that I’ll also make a return to the court,” she added. “The opportunity to still play lends me to be so thankful for the support staff around our programme.”

Radu, who returns to the Archers for a third season, said: “There is an unfinished business feeling after last season got cancelled. Judging from the way our team was playing you could see that we were coming together as a team quite nicely in the second part of the season.

“It’s time to think about the future and for me as a coach it is great to have the majority of our players returning for another season. It gives us the much needed continuity and a solid platform to build on. We are looking forward to the new season full of optimism and determined to work hard so that we are competitive once again and, as I said, to build from where we were last season.”

Strong said: “I’m thankful for this opportunity to work with the WBBL programme as an assistant coach. I am looking forward to aiding the squad in any way possible and working with an exciting group of players.”