Vitality Roses confirmed for 2024-25 programme

Vitality Roses Head Coach Jess Thirlby has announced the names of the 23 players who will be part of the Vitality Roses programme for 2024-25.

As the Vitality Roses programme enters its ninth year, it welcomes three new athletes to the full-time programme, all of whom have been elevated from the Future Roses programme.

Of the 23 athletes selected, 20 are based in the UK playing in the Netball Super League (NSL) and the remaining three play their domestic netball in the Suncorp Super Netball league in Australia.

The cohort announcement sees Beth Cobden and Zara Everitt return after a year’s break from the programme, and Jessica Shaw following a longer period away. Tash Pavelin, Lois Pearson and Paige Reed enter the programme for the first time, all being elevated from the Future Roses programme.

Vicki Oyesola was elevated to the Vitality Roses programme during the 2023-24 season and is back on the programme for 2024-25. She is joined by Berri Neil, Jayda Pechova, Alicia Scholes and Emma Thacker, who all entered the Vitality Roses programme for 2023-24 and remain for their second consecutive year in the programme.

Eight athletes who were part of the history-making silver medal winning Netball World Cup squad in 2023 return to the full-time programme, including Natalie Metcalf and Eleanor Cardwell who both enter their ninth consecutive year on the programme.

Vitality Roses Head Coach Jess Thirlby commented: “I want to congratulate all the athletes that have been selected for this year’s Roses programme, what an exciting cohort to get to work with and whom I know will help move us closer to our bold ambition of World Cup gold in 2027. We always expect to have a brilliant blend of talent in any national programme but the balance of readiness to perform and potential amongst this squad excites me and I hope the fans too.

“I want to acknowledge the loyalty of players like Nat and Eleanor for whom this will be their ninth season on the Roses programme, both incredible leaders and role models for those up and coming athletes to look up to and the remarkable resilience of athletes who return to the programme in acknowledgement of their standout performances this season. I am buoyed by the talent that has also been selected in our Future Roses programme and look forward to working closely with Sonia and that group to provide opportunities for integration across the year in order to help accelerate their progress too.”

The Vitality Roses programme runs over 12 months and consists of UK-based training camps and competitive opportunities at home and overseas, as well as in-club support for the players during the domestic seasons. Players have been selected following a rigorous process that sees all of their domestic and international performances assessed by the team of England Netball selectors. Any players not selected in this squad for the full-time programme are still eligible for selection for competition.

Sasha Glasgow and George Fisher have not been included on the programme at this stage, while they focus on their rehabilitation from injury with their domestic clubs. Sasha will remain in Australia to focus on rehab and returning to the SSN with Melbourne Mavericks. George Fisher has returned to New Zealand where she will be supported through her rehabilitation with her club Southern Steel. We wish both players well with their rehabilitation and look forward to supporting them to return to the Vitality Roses programme in due course.

Meanwhile, after being part of the programme in 2023-24, Halimat Adio, Sophie Drakeford-Lewis, Laura Malcolm and Elle McDonald have made the decision to take a step back from the full-time programme. We would like to thank them for their commitment and service to the programme and team.

The Vitality Roses programme is underpinned by the Future Roses programme, designed to develop the next generation of Roses through exposure to high-level training and international match play experience. A further 18 athletes have been selected for this programme, creating an exciting mix of athletes who have enjoyed successful seasons across the Netball Performance League (NPL) and those who are breaking through into the NSL.

Sonia Mkoloma, Roses Pathway Head Coach, said: “The athletes who sit within the Future Roses programme have been assessed across the domestic season whilst performing in the NSL and NPL environments for their respective teams. These 18 athletes have been standouts in their playing environments and impressed our panel of selectors.

“We have been able to pull together a diverse group of athletes with various levels of playing experience, who we believe have the potential to withstand the demands of the Future Roses programme and to further flourish in their development of the game.

“We have a cohort of players who we will also have a separate eye on as we begin our preparations for the World Netball Youth Cup in Gibraltar in 2025. This environment and the support it provides will help bolster their talent.

“We have a great international competition schedule lined up and the aim is to continue to expose these Future Roses players to the high-intensity match play demands of the current game and provide them with full-time wrap-around support from our Sports Science and Sports Medicine (SSSM) team and an experienced coaching team.”

The first fixtures of the new international season planned for the Vitality Roses is a three-match test series against the Silver Ferns. The Vitality Roses will play the Silver Ferns in the Taini Jamison Trophy on 29 September, 2 October and 6 October at three different locations across New Zealand. Further fixtures for an exciting international season will be announced in due course.

More information on all the players selected can be found on our biography pages.