Today (17/04/21), we celebrate the birthday of Jess Shaw as the Roses Futures star turns 25!
Jess has been a part of the full-time Roses programme since it began in 2016 and she helped steer England to a bronze medal at the 2017 Netball World Youth Cup with several impressive performances.
More recently she had the exciting opportunity to compete against some of the finest talent in netball as part of a 15-strong England A side in the build up to the Vitality Netball Nations Cup in January 2020.
The squad, which featured senior internationals such as Yasmin Parsons and Gabby Marshall, faced New Zealand, South Africa and the Vitality Roses in a series of behind closed doors training matches.
It was a heavily disrupted year for players across the world, but Jess was able to gain valuable experience in those games at the start of 2020 that will certainly aid her progression.
And she will continue her development back in the colours of Team Bath Netball after returning to the club ahead of the 2021 Vitality Netball Superleague season.
The mid-courter enjoyed two years at Loughborough Lightning, including the 2020 campaign that was cut short due to the pandemic, but rejoined the franchise she spent the 2017 and 2018 seasons with.
The younger sister of fellow Team Bath player Rachel Shaw, Jess was also reunited with Summer Artman, Imogen Allison and Sophie Drakeford-Lewis with whom she secured that World Youth Cup bronze medal in 2017.
Anna Stembridge’s side have been in formidable form this season with 10 wins from 11 matches as Jess has had to rise to the challenge of competing within a squad full of quality players.
“Obviously there is a lot of competition in the mid-court with the likes of Serena Guthrie but I think that is only going to improve my game and push me to be better,” Jess said after signing for Team Bath.
“I can learn a lot from Serena and Rach (Rachel Shaw), and by coming up against Imo (Imogen Allison) week in, week out in training.”
Being a part of the England programme made her transition into the team smoother as well as she benefited from those connections forged at youth level and in training with the senior squad.
“Imo is from Yorkshire as well, so we’ve actually been playing together since we were quite young. Summer (Artman), Soph (Sophie Drakeford-Lewis), Imo and I were all in the England U21 squad together, so we’ve all been around each other for quite a while and have good relationships on and off the court.
“I’ve also been training with Serena, Imo and Soph on the England programme this year, which is great because we’ve been able to work on combinations in the England environment which we’ll be able to bring back to Bath.”
We’re so excited to see where Jess’s career goes next!
Why not wish Jess a happy birthday on Twitter and Instagram?
Follow England Netball on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube for the latest news and content.
