Pitman out to build solid foundations at Forest

Nottingham Forest are one of the grand old names of English football but now attentions at the City Ground are turning to forging a similar reputation in netball.

Forest are one of two new franchises, alongside Birmingham Panthers, in this year’s revamped Netball Super League, which gets underway on 14 March and will end with the Grand Final at the O2 Arena on 6 July.

Forest take to the court as domestic netball enters a brave new era in the UK, with England Netball embarking on a decade-long professionalisation project beginning with the 2025 season.

The number of teams has been reduced from 10 to eight and squads trimmed from 12 to 10 players, while minimum salaries have increased for the 80 remaining players.

It is a project Forest want to play a big part of, and rookie head coach Chelsea Pitman hopes the club’s professional set-up will help her side thrive.

“The beauty of being at Nottingham Forest is that they have the foundations there with the football,” she said. “That has helped mould it and shape it, and we have also been able to add our netball twist to it as well.

“The support has been amazing; everyone is so invested in netball. The staff, the football players want to know how we are going.

“For everyone to have been truly invested and wanting it to be successful has been really nice to see. The history of Forest is football and for them to want to be part of our sport is really exciting.”

Pitman is no stranger to success, having won an historic Commonwealth Games gold with England in 2018 and played regular professional netball in Australia throughout her career.

That professionalism is something Pitman wants her new recruits to embrace, mandating that they relocate to Nottingham rather than endure mammoth commutes that can be common amongst Super League players.

But the 36-year-old, who only retired from her playing career last year, is not setting expectations sky high ahead of the club’s debut season and is focussed on building a long-term project at the City Ground.

“I have an expectation that we turn up and show up like professionals and present to everyone else that we are here and we mean business,” added Pitman.

“From us, you can expect to see the Forest way of playing and that is going to be at a high intensity, really great skill and execution and the best at basics.

"If we nail the foundations of building something really special, then moving forwards we are not having to hit the reset button every single year.”

Pitman’s illustrious career has allowed her to lean on a wealth of contacts in the netball world, with former England captain Serena Guthrie delivering a session on culture to help set the standard for her squad that has been built from scratch.

The club’s facilities have also supported Pitman’s ambition. Her offices are at the City Ground and she has been able to spend time with Carly Davies, manager of Forest's women's football team, who are currently unbeaten in the third tier and in the final of the FA Women’s National League Cup.

There has been room for small details too; the inside of their bib patches – which denote each player’s position – are inscribed with the Ted Lasso-esque slogan ‘Believe’.

“Every single home game is at Motorpoint Arena, the resources we get to tap into have been phenomenal,” enthused Pitman.

“My opportunities to tap into Carly and to trail her around training and learn something new have been great. It is the little things that make the bigger picture.

“They are professional in every sense of the way, so if we can take some of that into our environment and maybe one day also have the resources that they get to tap into, that would be amazing.”