Ashburton’s Kate Lloyd is off to ply her trade in London. Photo supplied.A few weeks ago, Ashburton netballer Kate Lloyd's immediate playing future was a bit uncertain.

Without a contract for the 2020 ANZ Premiership, Lloyd was preparing to throw herself head-first into her studies and find a job, but then she received a call that changed everything.

The London Pulse wanted Lloyd to join them for the United Kingdom’s 2020 Superleague season, and after giving it a bit of thought and talking it over with her family, the 22-year-old decided it was an opportunity she couldn’t turn down.

So Lloyd, a 190cm tall defender who last year played for the Mainland Tactix, will fly to the UK after Christmas ready to join the London Pulse for what she hopes will be a season of growth.

She’s a mixture of excitement and nerves at the moment, but knows she’s made the right decision.

London came calling at just the right time. Having missed out on an ANZ Premiership playing contract, and having just turned down a training partner contract with the Tactix, Lloyd had been weighing up her options.

“When I didn’t get a contract this year I just wanted to have a summer where I could recharge my batteries and get a bit of money behind me,” Lloyd said.

That plan’s now gone out the window. She won’t even get a full summer, leaving just as the Kiwi summer is getting into full swing and heading to the depths of an English winter, but she couldn’t be happier.

Like a lot of Kiwis her age, she saw herself going on an OE at some stage. Now, she can do it knowing there’s a job waiting for her, doing exactly what she loves to do, and it will take her all around England, Scotland and Wales.

Playing for the Pulse is a paid gig and she’ll be able to earn a bit of extra money on the side by doing some coaching. It’s money she hopes to put toward a bit of travel around Europe at the end of the season.

“I’ve always wanted to go and travel and this has probably given me the kick up the bum to do it,” Lloyd said.

What will follow her season with the Pulse, Lloyd doesn’t know. But, even after she finishes the last of this year’s exams over the next week or two, she’ll still have five papers left to complete in her sport and recreation degree at Lincoln University.

Study will be put on hold while she’s in the UK though, allowing her to focus fully on the job at hand – helping the Pulse make to the top in the UK Superleague.

It’s a competition made up of 10 teams from across England, Wales and Scotland, which began in 2005, and the defending champions heading into the 2020 season are the Manchester Thunder.

The London Pulse club was only formed in 2017 and this year’s squad features a Kiwi in Lloyd, a Jamaican in Adean Thomas, and a South African-born shooter who has joined the Pulse after two seasons with the Surrey Storm – Sigi Burger.

Lloyd will be joined in the defensive end by England Futures star Halimat Adio, young Roses star Zara Everitt and ex-Saracens Mavericks player Lindsay Keable.

It’s a team full of tall timber, so Lloyd knows she’ll have to work to get starts, but she’s always up for a challenge.

The London Pulse will play their first pre-season game on January 12, and start their season proper away to the Strathclyde Sirens on February 22, with their first home game – at Copper Box Arena – being against the Celtic Dragons in round three.

By Erin Tasker © The Ashburton Guardian - 26 October 2019