Multi-talented Michelle Magee continues to add accomplishments to her family’s impressive sporting pedigree.
Magee’s sister Emma is also a netballer, while their father Jim has coached the Antrim women’s gaelic football team in their native Northern Ireland.
Both Michelle and Emma also played gaelic football growing up and went on to represent their county.
It served as a strong education for success in netball, with Magee earning her first international cap aged just 17 before representing Northern Ireland at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Australia as an 18-year-old.
That followed a brief but glittering youth career that saw her captain Northern Ireland Under-17s and represent the Under-21s at the Netball World Youth Cup in Botswana in 2017.
She joined the Loughborough Lightning pathway after moving to the Midlands to study Biomedical Engineering before becoming a member of the inaugural Leeds Rhinos squad in 2021.
During that time, Magee represented Northern Ireland at the 2019 Netball World Cup and continued to balance her gaelic football exploits.
She helped Antrim to the final of the 2021 All-Ireland Ladies Junior Football Championship, producing a match-winning contribution in the semi-final a day after representing her country at netball, before playing at the famous Croke Park in the final.
Magee spent four seasons at Rhinos, reaching the play-offs in her first year and became the first player to make 50 appearances for the franchise before moving to Birmingham Panthers for the 2025 season.
The versatile defender was named Northern Ireland Player of the Year in 2023 and completed a Masters in Clinical and Industrial Drug Development at the University of Leeds in 2024.
Magee is a member of the LGBT+ community and spoke about the importance of visible role models on and off the netball court.
“Back at home, you didn’t see queer athletes in the media, I had no positive influence," said Magee.
“I didn’t see queer women who were athletes so I didn’t see anyone like me. I didn’t see being gay as a positive thing and I saw it as something that might cause me issues in the future.
“It is only then when you look at that you realise how important representation is. I realised there were so many people like me in netball that have made it and done incredible things and that my sexuality is a part of me that is really good as well."
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