NXT Gen League
As part of the journey towards professionalisation, the NXT Gen League was established to give top level netball a structure that allows talent to thrive and the season played out with impressive results.
The NXT Gen League featured nine teams, eight of them aligned to NSL clubs, alongside Team Bath. Each squad had a minimum of 16 and a maximum of 20 players, with all nine teams playing each other twice in a home and away format, and fixtures aligned to NSL matches where possible. With its own distinctive brand identity, the NXT Gen League is closely interconnected with the NSL but exists as a standalone competition, providing extended opportunities for emerging talent, to nurture and develop the next generation of world-class players and provide a pipeline of talent for the NSL.
HANNAH GIBSON
NXT Gen League
Player of the Season
Squads featured athletes under 23, with up to four players aged over 23 to support and enhance the quality of the competition. These players are likely to have previously played in the NSL but not have been signed as a registered player this season, or they may be players over 23 returning from pregnancy or injury, or players that Clubs believe will support the competition and environment for the NXT Gen League.
In an incredibly tight league, Loughborough Lightning pipped Team Bath to the title by virtue of amassing four bonus points to Bath’s two after 11 wins each. NIC Leeds Rhinos finished with the same number of wins but just one bonus point meant they ended up in third place. London Pulse made up the top four, managing one win fewer, while the new teams, Nottingham Forest Netball and Birmingham Panthers, finished fifth and sixth respectively.
Over 160 athletes took to the court in 2025 with the Player of the Season winner chosen based on each game’s Player of the Match award. And, after a standout season of incredible individual and team performances, London Pulse’s Hannah Gibson was named NXT Gen League Player of the Season.
Gibson starred at goal attack and goal shooter for Pulse, playing 59 out of a possible 64 quarters and consistently impressing, picking up nine Player of the Match awards across the season. Her performances also saw her selected for the Future Roses programme for the first time and named in the Netball World Youth Cup training squad.