2024 national ONE Awards winners revealed

Ellie was a medal ceremony volunteer at the 2019 Vitality Netball World Cup, and she continues to inspire young athletes across Liverpool. Her club Phoenix Netball Club created a junior coaching programme, allowing the older players to pass on their passion to Year 2s and 3s, and Ellie facilitates these junior volunteers in her coaching plan. 

Her advocacy for youth has driven improvements in training programmes and she provides a voice to all members, which ensures the club fosters an environment where young players can thrive. 

Her influence extends beyond volunteering. She maintains an exceptional playing career – both at university and Phoenix – leading her division one team to two league titles and a cup championship.

Ellie’s boundless energy, authentic passion, and unwavering commitment have exponentially grown awareness, recruitment, and opportunities within the sport she loves. Her impact as both an inspirational volunteer and athlete makes her a true ambassador for netball.

Sarah is an incredible PE teacher, coach and motivator who lives and breathes netball for the students at Amersham School.  

Sarah dedicates many hours, including personal time, energy and skills teaching over 80 children a week in extra-curricular netball, training over 20 squads, organising fixtures against other schools, entering tournaments and arranging netball-related school trips.  

Sarah also runs and supports three development squads in the local adult league, providing great development and experience for the girls. 

Sarah’s love and understanding of netball has given her students the opportunity to play against strong teams developing their skills to the highest ability. By setting up a mixed league for the school, Sarah has encouraged over 40 boys to play netball in school training and fixtures, helping grow inclusivity and the netball community. 

Sarah shows phenomenal support to each team member, never fails to put her students first, helps increase their confidence on and off the court, and teaches them resilience, encouraging students to be proud of themselves. The children respect and adore her and are lucky to have such a caring teacher.  

Cosmopolitan Roses Netball Academy aim to tackle underrepresentation of Asian/Muslim netball players.  

By bringing communities together and promoting diversity within the sport, Haroona and Sadia aspire to see netball thrive globally while empowering individuals to realise their full potential.  

Their biggest impact has been to educate and remove cultural barriers from within the Muslim and Asian community as well as the wider “traditional” netball community. They’ve seen families from the Muslim/Asian community recognise and accept netball as something their daughters can enjoy and excel in, have ensured facilities are suitable by meeting needs of modesty, educated on how to support athletes fasting during Ramadan, fundraised to remove economic barriers and applied for funding to subsidise membership and training fees.  

Cosmopolitan Roses Netball Academy is only in its first year, but it is already engaging and empowering Asian and Muslim women and girls in our sport.  

Elizabeth is an inspiration to the young people she coaches and their parents. She expects commitment and enthusiasm and if demonstrated, she rewards the players with amazing opportunities, support, encouragement and their time.  

She provides her players with opportunities to play in tournaments and leagues to give them a chance to experience things they would not otherwise have been able to. She gives up so much of her time to organise this all along with enjoyable training and she’s an example to all.  

She has gone above and beyond by supporting a player and their parents this season. The player has been diagnosed with an eating disorder, and even though she has not been playing netball recently, Elizabeth has continued to get her involved with her team and club. 

Joanna’s sessions for a mixed-ability group aged from their 20s to 50s are a weekly highlight. As one player said: “Joanna has the special ability to create this wonderful atmosphere, and I am very grateful.” 

Everyone feels welcomed to the session by her friendly, light-hearted and warm approach. It has given players emotional and physical confidence, a feeling of community and new friendships. Joanna has created a really committed following of ladies that love her and her fairness.  

Joanna has made netball really fun, instilling an excitement about netball that many attendees never thought possible. She pushes every player on the court to play their best – encouraging and congratulating them on good play, no matter how insignificant the move may have been. Her positive but gentle approach of coaching the whole group; quietly offering individual advice during a game; and ensuring teams are balanced and everyone is in the most appropriate position for them, works wonders.  

She is a really dedicated coach – successfully flexing the session whatever the numbers, fitness levels, health conditions and weather; cleaning up dog poo; and goes above and beyond in organising trips to watch England/London Pulse play, as well as entering and supporting her group in local tournaments. 

Joanna ensures everyone – whatever ability or experience – can (re)discover and enjoy the fun of netball and grow as a player.

Sara is incredibly good in promoting, developing and supporting officials.  

Her dedication to training and mentoring officials has been instrumental in shaping the future of officiating across the East Midlands and beyond. Her passion and expertise have not only increased the quality of matches but have also enriched the overall netball experience for players and spectators alike.  

Her leadership as the Technical Official Lead Coordinator for Loughborough Lightning has ensured top-notch officiating standards in all competitions within both the region, the Netball Super League and international fixtures.

Leanne’s impact on inspiring others in netball is profound and multifaceted.  

By founding a grassroots club, Leanne has not only provided opportunities for participation but also promoted inclusivity by welcoming players of all backgrounds and abilities and ensuring coaches develop an understanding of how to work with neurodiverse young people in a supportive way.   

Her dedication to initiatives like The Front Campaign emphasises her commitment to ending bullying in sports, promoting fairness, solidarity, and friendliness. 

Under her stewardship, St Helens Bees Netball Club has witnessed a remarkable 64% growth in the past year, creating a nurturing environment where girls as young as three can embrace the sport.

Furthermore, Leanne’s commitment extends to fundraising and community engagement, encouraging the girls to collect toys and clothes for those in need and organising art competitions for hospital wards. Her endeavours have transformed the club into a tight-knit family.  

Leanne’s ultimate vision of a netball hub epitomises her dedication to inclusivity and empowerment. Under her leadership, countless individuals have experienced the transformative power of netball. 

Jenny’s dedication and passion for netball is phenomenal. She wears so many netball hats: Chair for NW Netball, Merseyside Junior League Vice-Chair, Empire Netball Club Founder and Head Coach for Empire under 13s. She is also a coach and umpire and part way through her Level 3!  

She is mentoring new coaches in the club and coordinates the Merseyside Junior League, organising venues, fixtures and facilitates 65 teams playing netball every week. She is also instrumental in organising three charity tournaments, helping raise over £8,000 in the 2023 season.

And if that wasn’t enough, she also works full time and has two children under two! She was also on the legacy committee for the Netball World Cup and since then has been striving to put Merseyside on the netball map! 

Stacey embodies everything that is positive, proactive and innovative about junior netball development.  

Over the past year, the impact Stacey has had on junior netball has spanned competition, umpire development, club development and youth development through coaching.  

Stacey has been instrumental in establishing a new junior development league in Sussex, catering for 38 teams across four age groups, enabling developing young players to access regular competition in a safe and nurturing environment.  

Stacey is recognised as a pioneer within the game for her unwavering commitment to increasing and improving the quality and provision of junior netball in Sussex.  

Penketh Panthers is inclusive to all who want to play netball, and their philosophy of fun, fitness, fair play, friendship and family are at the heart of every planned activity, training session, award ceremony and fixture.  

It’s run entirely by volunteers who continue to motivate and inspire, delivering netball from reception to retirement. It’s gone from eight to 26 very active teams; tots to Walking Netball and everything else in between. It’s one of the only clubs that accepts each child regardless of ability with no joining trial and is fully inclusive and diverse.

Experiences include team-building sessions, nutrition information, strength and conditioning sessions, Manchester Thunder trips, picnics and parent tournaments. They facilitate heart screenings, and, in the community, they take part in food bank collections, litter picking, clothing and equipment collections for refugees.  

From the numerous nominations the panel received, it’s very evident that Penketh Panthers are held in very high regard by the whole Netball Family and surrounding community. One standout quote about them read: “As a cancer support group leader, this club has done some fundraising for our group, and I was so overwhelmed. This club is just amazing and I’m so privileged to be part of it.” 

Pass On Your Passion is England Netball’s way of recognising the dedicated young leaders aged 12-25.

At each milestone reached they receive recognition, those at the national ONE Awards achieved the incredible milestone of gifting 400 hours of time to making netball happen in the past two years.

This will have been in various roles volunteering in their club, league, school, county or region.

Congratulations to:

• Alexia Samolia
• Bethany Sherlock
• Daisy Madden
• Ellie Walsh
• Isabelle Hall
• Meg Smith
• Millie Turner
• Rebecca Bowen
• Rosie Canterdale
• Sophie Arnold
• Sophia Hall

Long Service Awards are awarded to individuals who have contributed 25 years of service at county, regional, national and international level, dedicating significant time across varying roles to improve the lives of netballers around them.

Congratulations to:

Jackie Milsom

Jackie has been involved volunteering in netball for 31 years and counting! She was Derbyshire Fixtures Secretary and Team Manager from 1993-2005 and has been Team Manager for Loughborough Lightning in the Netball Super League since 2005.

“As a former Team Manager myself, I know both roles necessitate more backroom work than anyone ever realises and too many facets to list – nothing is out of bounds! Jackie’s contribution to both organisations was/is vital to the smooth running of training and matches – all of which she attends in addition to the hours of admin required to contribute to Loughborough Lightning’s success.”

Jan Newton

In 1986, Jan joined the Hertfordshire Officials Technical Group supporting C Award courses promoting good umpiring. Since then, she has volunteered as a Table Official, Assessor, Mentor, Tournament Referee and Chairperson of the Hertfordshire County Netball League.

Most recently, Jan has started running group mentoring sessions for new umpires who have completed the online course – a popular and invaluable resource for all those involved. As a result, Hertfordshire have had many successes at IOA level due in no small part to Jan’s involvement.

Jan’s time commitment is difficult to estimate but she certainly spends many hours every week, empowering and supporting others on and beyond the court – and all this alongside a full-time job!

Liz McIntyre

Described as “the go to presence”, Liz is a real source of knowledge and support across the West Midlands but particularly within Warwickshire Netball.

Always willing to lend a hand, Liz has and continues to volunteer across a variety of roles – from being an A Award umpire herself to County Umpire Lead and County Umpire Secretary, as well as a mentor, tutor and assessor.

“Liz is single handedly managing all assessments within Warwickshire and as there is a small pool or assessors, she is also doing most of them herself. The amount of emails arranging and rearranging assessments is huge and the time and dedication involved in this element of role allows for a large number of assessments each season.”