The 12-strong England U17 squad will be looking to defend their title at the Netball Europe U17 Championship from 6-8 March.
England won the previous edition of the tournament in 2019 at the University of Huddersfield, completing a clean sweep en route to the trophy.
Victoria Burgess’ side begin their campaign with an opening day double header, facing Scotland on Friday morning before taking on Northern Ireland later that evening.
Switzerland are their opponents on Saturday evening before concluding the competition against hosts Wales.
The squad completed an intensive prep camp, including match play against London Pulse and Loughborough Lightning, as well as yoga and team building activities, in February and the team are now ready and raring to go.
Speaking about representing her country, Saracens Mavericks’ Eva Chater said: “When I put on the dress, I feel like I’ll get a sense of pride.
“It’s what I’ve been working for since I was in Year 4, just going out there and showing how much this means to me because it’s part of my life.”
London Pulse’s Peace Akinyemi commented: “I feel like it’s a progression from last year as I wasn’t selected then so it shows that I’ve improved and that this is just the beginning for me.
“There are ups and downs in your netball journey and it’s how you come back.
“My passion for netball has increased and I just want to go out there and show what I’m made of.”
England U17 Fixtures:
| Friday 6th March 2020 | 10:00 | Scotland vs. England |
| Friday 6th March 2020 | 19:00 | England vs. Northern Ireland |
| Saturday 7th March 2020 | 17:00 | England vs. Switzerland |
| Sunday 8th March 2020 | 13:00 | Wales vs. England |
England U17 Squad:
| Name: | Club: | Number of Caps: | Any other interesting information: |
| Peace Akinyemi | Turnford NC / Pulse | 0 | Peace loves music and loves to play the drums as well as the violin at Grade 5. |
| Bella Baylis (VC) | Turnford NC / Saracens Mavericks | 4 | Bella plays for England U19 Lacrosse and won gold in the home internationals, winning 7-2 in the final. |
| Georgie Brock-Taylor | Charnwood NC / Loughborough Lightning | 0 | Georgie used to play football for the centre of excellence and her coach was ex England captain Casey Stoney until the age of 14 when she chose to play netball full time. |
| Libby Burgess | Eagles NC / Saracens Mavericks | 0 | Libby helps out at all her club’s netball camps, and hopes to be a coach when she is older. She also loves music festivals and met Skepta and Yungen backstage. |
| Eva Chater | Weston Park Blades / Saracens Mavericks | 0 | Eva’s grandad got an OBE from the Queen for services in the community and she got to go to Buckingham Palace. |
| Savannah Dada-Mascoll | Tameside NC / Manchester Thunder | 0 | Savannah is a keen tennis player, along with tap dancing and playing the violin in her spare time. |
| Hannah Diamond | Oldham NC / Manchester Thunder | 0 | Hannah is a secret mad football fan, and has a season ticket for her local side Oldham Athletic FC. She attends every game with her dad and grandad. |
| Kaedin Gumbs | Trafford NC / Manchester Thunder | 0 | Kaedin learnt how to braid hair when she was six years old. At the 2019 NPL tournament, she completed over 40 braids in her teammates’ hair. |
| Molly Hole (C) | Weston Park Blades / Team Bath | 4 | Molly is a keen jumper and competes in high jump for England. |
| Sophie Kelly | Weston Park Blades / Surrey Storm | 0 | Sophie has played in a national cricket final at Lord’s and won a silver medal. |
| Bethan Lount | Charnwood NC / Loughborough Lightning | 0 | Bethan’s claim to fame is that her uncle was the only English referee at the 2018 FIFA World Cup. |
| Bridget Morgan | Oldham NC / Manchester Thunder | 0 | Bridget competes in eventing with her horses Winston and Sonny, and loves to play piano at Grade 7. |
Make sure you’re following England Netball on Twitter for updates at the end of each game.
