At the England Netball 2023 AGM held on Saturday 16th September, following an election process, the England Netball membership appointed two new board directors, Serena Kersten MBE and Claire Harris.
Serena Kersten MBE
Serena represented the England Roses at a senior level from the age of 18 achieving 110 Caps, winning Commonwealth Gold in 2018 and captaining the Roses at the 2019 World Cup in Liverpool. She has participated in all of the three largest domestic leagues in the world winning a number of titles. Following retirement from playing Serena has become Performance Lead for Jersey Netball as well as acting as Leadership and Culture Coach for the Roses at the most recent Netball World Cup in South Africa earlier in the year.
Serena said of her appointment “I’d like to thank all who thought me worthy of an EN board position and am truly humbled to be joining the board. I can’t wait to get started as we all navigate our way through a very exciting phase for netball across the UK.”
Claire Harris
Claire is a qualified Chartered Accountant with a twenty-year career in finance within the hospitality industry. She is currently Director of Group Finance at Stonegate Group, leading a large team to ensure an efficient, effective and robust financial control environment.
Claire said when addressing the membership: “Having played netball myself and with my daughters currently enjoying playing I am grateful to the membership for their support of my appointment to the board. I will be so proud to contribute even a small amount to continuing to promote netball so that opportunities for playing at all levels are wholly accessible.”
Bridget Blow, Chair of the England Netball Board added: “As a result of the membership election I am pleased to welcome Serena and Claire to the England Netball Board, they each bring invaluable skills and diverse experiences to support the Board into the future. I look forward to their contributions in helping to guide us on our ambitious Adventure Strategy to professionalise the game and to bring the grassroots netball opportunity to all women and girls.”
I also want to take this opportunity to thank the directors stepping down from the board, Tracy Clarke, Debbie Ryan and Sharanjit Gulati, who have contributed significantly to the work of the board during their terms, I have really enjoyed working alongside them during this time.”
The England Netball Board, which is responsible for overseeing England Netball’s strategies, policies and business management, is comprised of a mixture of Nominated and Independent Non-Executive Directors from different backgrounds. Claire and Serena both join the board along with previously announced new appointments David Mahoney MBE, Tim Rolfe and Jill Emney.
In addition to these appointments during the AGM Fran Connolly, CEO presented the highlights of the 2022/23 year and Annmarie Wallis, Chair of the Finance & Audit Committee summarised the financial position. The members duly approved the resolutions to adopt the Annual Report and Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2023 and authorised the Board of Directors to appoint auditors for the year ended 31 March 2024 and fix their remuneration.
