Iona Christian is ready to make her return to court one to remember in 2025.
Christian missed the entirety of the 2024 season after giving birth to son Lawrie in March, and made history by being the first pregnant player to sign a Super League contract when she re-joined Strathclyde Sirens.
The dynamic wing attack has joined new franchise Nottingham Forest Netball for its inaugural Netball Super League season, with Christian’s fleet of foot and fast feeds set to be key for the east Midlands outfit.
Christian is determined to follow on from the long line of mothers playing in the Netball Super League, and hopes her story can help inspire other women in the future.
“I have a lot of role models that are mums have been in the league or are in the league, both players and coaches,” she said.
“Hopefully now, even if it is one person, I can inspire people and show you can be a professional athlete and have a family. That would be really special.”
Christian brings plenty of NSL experience to Forest, with the 27-year-old, making her debut at Severn Stars after coming through the north west pathway.
Three seasons at Wasps Netball followed between 2020 and 2022 before Christian, who can also play at centre, returned to Thunder for the 2023 season.
Internationally, Christian plays for Scotland and represented the Thistles at both the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and the 2023 Netball World Cup in Cape Town.
She came through the England pathway, representing the Roses at the 2017 Netball Youth World Cup in Botswana.
Christian is a freelance illustrator and she cites her family and coaches when she was younger as the reasons for getting her into the sport.
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