ENGLAND NETBALL ANNOUNCE VITALITY ROSES AND FUTURE ROSES

The intake of players for the 2024-25 Vitality Roses and Future Roses programmes have now been named.

Vitality Roses Head Coach Jess Thirlby has announced the 23 players who will be part of the Vitality Roses programme for 2024-25, including three who have been promoted from last year’s Futures Roses programme.

Tash Pavelin, Lois Pearson and Paige Reed are the three players promoted from the Future Roses, while Beth Cobden and Zara Everitt return after a year’s break from the programme. Jessica Shaw is also back following a longer period away.

Of the 23 selected, 20 are based in the UK playing in the Netball Super League (NSL) and the remaining three play their domestic netball in the Suncorp Super Netball league in Australia.

Vicki Oyesola, who was promoted to the Vitality Roses programme during the 2023-24 season, is back for 2024-25 and is joined by Berri Neil, Jayda Pechova, Alicia Scholes and Emma Thacker, who also return for their second consecutive year in the programme.

Eight athletes who were part of the history-making silver medal winning Netball World Cup squad in 2023 return, including Natalie Metcalf and Eleanor Cardwell, who are involved for a ninth consecutive year.

Thirlby said: “I want to congratulate all the athletes that have been selected for this year’s Roses programme. What an exciting cohort to get to work with – I know they will help move us closer to our bold ambition of World Cup gold in 2027.

“I want to acknowledge the loyalty of players like Nat and Eleanor for whom this will be their ninth season on the Roses programme, both incredible leaders and role models for those up-and-coming athletes to look up to and the remarkable resilience of athletes who return to the programme in acknowledgement of their standout performances this season.”

The Vitality Roses programme runs over 12 months and consists of UK-based training camps and competitive opportunities at home and overseas. Sasha Glasgow and George Fisher have not been included on the programme while they focus on their rehabilitation from injury. Meanwhile, Halimat Adio, Sophie Drakeford-Lewis and Elle McDonald have made the decision to take a step back from the full-time programme, whilst Laura Malcolm has announced her retirement from playing netball at both an elite domestic and international level.

Future Roses

18 players have also been selected for the Future Roses programme, a mix of players who have enjoyed successful seasons in the Netball Performance League (NPL) plus those who are breaking through into the NSL.

Sonia Mkoloma, Roses Pathway Head Coach, said: “The athletes who sit within the Future Roses programme have been assessed across the domestic season whilst performing in the NSL and NPL environments for their respective teams. These 18 athletes have been standouts in their playing environments and impressed our panel of selectors.

“We have been able to pull together a diverse group of athletes with various levels of playing experience, who we believe have the potential to withstand the demands of the Future Roses programme and to further flourish in their development of the game.”