Netball Super League | England Netball announce Vitality Roses and Future Roses Cohort for 2022-23, with eight VNSL clubs represented across the programmes

Alice Harvey of Loughborough Lightning vs London Pulse Vitality Netball Superleague 05/02/2022.

Alice Harvey of VNSL side Loughborough Lightning (Image: Ben Lumely)

18 Vitality Netball Superleague (VNSL) players have been selected for the Vitality Roses programme ahead of the 2022-23 international season.

Vitality Roses Head Coach Jess Thirlby has announced the names of the 24 players who will be part of the Vitality Roses programme for 2022-23.

18 out of the 24 selected are based in the UK and play in the Vitality Netball Superleague, whilst the remaining six play their domestic netball in the Suncorp Super Netball league in Australia or the ANZ Premiership in New Zealand. In total, six VNSL clubs are represented in the Vitality Roses 2022-23 cohort.

Vitality Roses Programme 

Imogen Allison , Team Bath Netball
Eleanor Cardwell , Manchester Thunder
Ella Clark, Loughborough Lightning
Jade Clarke, Leeds Rhinos
Beth Cobden, Loughborough Lightning
Sophie Drakeford-Lewis, Team Bath Netball
Zara Everitt, London Pulse
Funmi Fadoju, London Pulse
George Fisher, Southern Steel (New Zealand)
Stacey Francis-Bayman, West Coast Fever (Australia)
Layla Guscoth, Team Bath Netball
Joanne Harten, Giants Netball (Australia)
Alice Harvey, Loughborough Lightning
Helen Housby, New South Wales Swifts (Australia)
Hannah Joseph, Loughborough Lightning
Laura Malcolm, Manchester Thunder
Geva Mentor, Collingwood Magpies (Australia)
Natalie Metcalf, Manchester Thunder
Natalie Panagarry, Loughborough Lightning
Razia Quashie, Saracens Mavericks
Ellie Rattu, London Pulse
Olivia Tchine, London Pulse
Eboni Usoro-Brown, Queensland Firebirds (Australia)
Francesca Williams, Loughborough Lightning

Jess Thirlby commented: “The quality of athletes selected into the Roses programme makes for an exciting year as we head towards Birmingham and also journey towards the World Cup in Cape Town in 2023. Not only do we see a number of our hugely experienced and familiar names retain their places in an increasingly competitive programme, but also new talent being acknowledged for their continued rise within their domestic competitions. To see athletes also graduate from our Future Roses programme and be elevated into the Roses for the first time is testament that our systems are working well and we look forward to supporting those athletes who are transitioning.

“A lot has been said about the strength and depth we are currently fortunate to have available to us and we’ve worked hard to uncover that over the last few years. Beyond Roses, this depth is reflected in the exciting Futures group for whom we have selected and it’s really positive that we have increased the number of athletes we can offer places to this year. Capturing the talent that are showing up as having real potential to become Roses in the future and helping to support, harness and accelerate that talent now bodes well for the years to come and in our quest for sustained and repeated success on an international stage.

“I want to thank and congratulate all of the athletes on their inclusion, the domestic clubs both home and overseas and our Roses Academy for helping to allow these athletes to shine. Finally, to have 100% take up of the offers made to athletes for this upcoming year speaks to the desire of people wanting to be a part of it and represent the Roses as well as the culture and environment that has strengthened over the last few years. I can’t wait to get started.”

The Vitality Roses programme runs over 12 months and is made up of UK-based training camps and competitive opportunities at home and overseas, as well as in-club support for the players during the domestic seasons. Players have been selected following a rigorous process that sees all of their domestic and international performances assessed by the team of England Netball selectors. Any players not selected in this squad for the full-time programme are still eligible and can still be selected for Roses camps and competitions via the P3 route which is designed to acknowledge any athlete whose performance is recognised by the selection panel and can still be considered.

Since its inception in 2016, the full-time programme has seen significant progress made in recent times, with the Vitality Roses winning the Commonwealth Games in 2018, having enjoyed their most successful international season in 2021 and now regularly challenging the world’s number one and two ranked nations in Australia and New Zealand.

The international competition calendar is still to be confirmed as England Netball make preparations for the Commonwealth Games 2022 and the 2023 World Cup. Fixtures for an exciting international calendar will be announced in due course.

16 players have also been named in an enhanced Future Roses programme which this year has been designed with the specific objective of preparing a cohort of athletes to be ‘Roses-ready’ after the 2023 Netball World Cup. The programme seeks to maximise players’ preparation and conditioning and therefore develop them towards the Roses programme through exposure to high level training and international match play experience.

All 16 players selected in the Future Roses programme are athletes in the Vitality Netball Superleague and eight clubs are represented in this cohort.

Future Roses Programme

Ella Bowen, Loughborough Lightning
Amy Carter, Manchester Thunder
Rhea Dixon, Leeds Rhinos
Brie Grierson, Leeds Rhinos
Suzie Liverseidge, Loughborough Lightning
Taylor McKevitt, Strathclyde Sirens
Berri Neil, London Pulse
Natasha Pavelin, Team Bath
Lois Pearson, Manchester Thunder
Jayda Pechova, London Pulse
Paige Reed, Severn Stars
Kira Rothwell, London Pulse
Millie Sanders, Manchester Thunder
Alicia Scholes, London Pulse
Emma Thacker, Loughborough Lightning
Aliyah Zaranyika, Saracens Mavericks

David Parsons, Performance Director at England Netball, added: “We’ve seen the benefits that the full-time programme has brought to the Roses, and our performances this year together with the experiences we’ve been able to provide to an extended squad of players mean we’re heading into two major tournaments over the next year with real excitement.

“We’re also keeping one eye on the future, and the enhanced Future Roses Programme selected from a vast array of talent that we’ve seen across the Vitality Netball Superleague this season will provide us with the opportunity to ensure we have a continual pipeline of high-quality athletes forcing their way into the selectors’ thoughts in the coming years.”

The Future Roses programme also supports those players with dual careers, either undergoing full time education or working alongside a commitment to developing as a player within the Roses set up.

More information on all the players selected can be found on the England Netball biography pages.

The Vitality Netball Superleague season will conclude on Sunday 5 June where the top four sides will come together for a third place play off and the Grand Final where we’ll learn who will be crowned champions for 2022.

More on the Vitality Netball Superleague, including tickets for the Grand Final 2022 and remaining fixtures can be viewed on the VNSL website.