Northern Ireland select U21 Squad for 2024

23 athletes have been selected for the U21 squad for the 2024 season, led by newly appointed Head Coach, Sachel Grant, and Assistant Coach, Lisa Bowman. This squad will be working towards World Youth Cup Qualifiers in Cardiff in September 2024.

The squad consists of 10 athletes who currently sit in the Emerging Warriors and Warriors programme, 9 athletes currently on our Pathway (U17-U21), and 4 new athletes.

Northern Ireland U21 Head Coach, Sachel Grant, is delighted with the selected squad

I was impressed with the standard and effort from everyone who attended the selection weekend, as well as the U21 staff group. We cannot wait to get going and be ready to qualify for the World Youth Cup.

Over the coming months, the squad will be together for regular camps and pushing themselves in competition to develop connections on and off the court.

Warriors Head Coach, Sheonah Forbes, commented

I am really excited to see this squad come together, where we have a range of athlete graduating through the pathway. We are committed to developing the provision within our pathway to ensure that we have international athletes ready at the right time.

Keep up to date with the squads journey on our social media.

Name Club/Franchise Court Area
Alex Martin* Concordia Netball Club, NE Phoenix Circle Attack
Alice O’Brien Exeter NC, Exeter University Netball Club Mid Court
Ana Mulholland Crumlin Community Netball Club Circle Defence
Anna Rice Crumlin Community Netball Club Circle Attack
Catelyn Burns NE Phoenix, University Netball Club Mid Court
Erin Watson Belfast Ladies Netball Club Mid Court
Erin Young Belfast Ladies Netball Club Circle Defence
Eva Ramsey Crumlin Community Netball Club Circle Attack
Eva Scott Antrim Ladies Netball Club Circle Defence
Eva Wilson Belfast Ladies Netball Club Circle Attack
Evelyn McCagherty Weston Park Blades NC, Central Warriors Mid Court
Evie McCafferty Clann Eireann Netball Club Circle Defence
Georgia Miller Valley Netball Club Mid Court
Isabella Paas Hatfield Netball Club, University of Leicester Netball Club Circle Defence
Jill Smiley YMCA Magic NC, Leeds University Netball Club Circle Attack
Joy Ebbinghaus Donaghadee Netball Club Circle Attack
Lisa Carlin NE Phoenix, Northumbria University Netball Club Circle Defence
Mia Lanigan YWCA Bury, Leeds Rhinos Mid Court
Mica Quinn Central Warriors Mid Court
Orla McGeough Manchester Thunder, Liverpool University Netball Club Mid Court
Rosa McCloskey Kingsway Netball Club Circle Attack
Tillie Irvine Saracens Mavericks, Hertfordshire University Netball Club Circle Defence
Zoe Maynard  Team Bath, Mavericks Netball Club Mid Court

*subject to fitness

Tracked Athletes who will attend parts of the programme;

Aoibheann Donnelly (Mid Court, Crumlin Community Netball Club)

Annie Elliott (Mid Court, Banbridge Netball Club)

IC Powder Coaters Ltd partner with Netball Northern Ireland U17 Athlete

As we are in the midst of a busy domestic season we are delighted to announce a new supporter of Netball NI and local metal powder coating business IC Powder Coaters Ltd.

A long-standing advocate of Northern Ireland sport IC Powder Coaters Ltd is expanding its portfolio of support, becoming a partner of one of Netball NI’s U17 athletes, Marleigh Coster as she prepares to compete in the U17 European Championships.

IC Powder Coaters Ltd, established in 1985, is a significant Northern Ireland supplier of powder coating services. With a commitment to quality, quick and reliable turnaround times and competitive pricing – made possible by their highly cost-efficient operation, their focus on customer service has ensured a loyal customer base with glowing testimonials.

Ivor Carter, IC Powdew Coaters Ltd

We are delighted to support Netball Northern Ireland, and in particular the U17’s group, who are working hard to prepare for their European Championships. We are passionate about encouraging girls to be active and healthy, embracing competition and look forward to supporting netballers within this age group as they begin their national representation journey.

Helen Stirling, Chair of Netball Northern Ireland:

We are delighted to bring IC Powder Coating on board as a Netball NI partner. Netball in Northern Ireland is growing in profile and increasing our relationships with new industries will support us as we work hard for further growth and exposure to our sport.

Netball NI welcome Rachel Barr

Netball NI are delighted to announce a new addition to our staff team as we welcome Rachel Barr into the role of Administration and Events Officer. Rachel commenced her role this week and will become a regular contact for our netball family. 

With extensive experience across all areas of administration in Netball, following many years working with England Netball in the North East, Rachel comes to the business not only with an understanding of the needs of the role, but with a fresh view and approach to our work with ideas and processes that can be implemented to strengthen our service delivery for our membership and to attract new participants. 

 Karen Rollo-Stewart, Executive Manager

I’m thrilled to have Rachel on board, her passion for female sport combined with her knowledge and experience in netball, is a huge boost to the offering we can provide as a staff team. We created the new role with a clear remit to provide a more professional user experience for our members and other stakeholders, and to provide further support for our current staff to deliver more effectively in their roles. Rachel’s impactwill be seen across the business and she has already become a friendly face and sounding board within the team.

 Rachel Barr, Admin & Events Officer 

I am delighted to have the opportunity to contribute to this esteemed organisation, at the forefront of advancing women’s sport. I am eager to commence my journey with Netball Northern Ireland, I am hoping to add value to an already exceptional team.

 We wish Rachel the best of luck of her role and know our netball family will make her very welcome. 

Now Recruiting U21 Team Manager

Netball NI are now recruiting for the position of U21 Team Manager.

Check out the job description below for more information on this exciting role.

Deadline to apply is 22 January 2024 at 12 noon.

To apply, please send CV and Covering Letter to Meg Wallace at performancecoordinator@netballni.org

NNI U21 Team Manager Job Description

Under 21 Coaching Team Appointed

Netball Northern Ireland are delighted to announce the appointment of our U21 Coaching Team that will prepare the squad for the upcoming World Youth Cup Qualifiers in September. 

Sachel Grant, will lead the management team as Head Coach, with Lisa Bowman taking up the Assistant Coach role. 

Sachel, will be known to many with her extensive experience at Netball Superleague Franchise, Saracens Mavericks. As Mavericks Pathway Lead for seven years and U21 Head Coach for four years, Sachel brings a wealth of knowledge to the role and an understanding of the programme required to support and develop athletes and teams at this stage in the performance pathway to achieve success and provide longevity and sustainability. 

Lisa, no stranger to anyone in Netball in NI, will be supporting Sachel as Assistant Coach alongside a new role for our performance programme in Northern Ireland, as National Technical Coach. This will include working alongside the Warriors Coaching team as well as across the underage pathway in her specialist capacity.  

The appointments align fully with the Warriors Vision that has been created by our senior squad and management team; 

  • Legacy – To inspire and pave the way for those aspiring to be a Warrior, as well those pioneering to grow the game in NI.  
  • Visibility – Celebrating the success of the Warriors pathway & Netball in NI together, as well as increasing our voice amongst the world’s best. 
  • Warriors – Built with Heart, Play with Grit 

Sachel is an excellent coach and person who I have no doubt will continue to drive the U21 programme forward in 2024. With the World Youth Cup Qualifiers in September this year, Sachel’s experience working in this age group will be paramount to the success of the group.  

I am really excited to develop the Technical Coach role with Lisa who will sit in the vital assistant coach role with the U21 group alongside Sachel, as well as delivering in the Warriors environment. Lisa’s knowledge and continual passion for the development of the Warriors is infectious and I cannot wait to continue to see her grow on the international scene.

I look forward to working with the coaches with the same drive of developing our future senior Warrior athletes.

Sheonah Forbes – Warriors Head Coach

We wish the coaches the best of luck as they begin the new programme and know our Netball Family here in Northern Ireland and beyond, will be behind them. 

NNI Schools Officer departure – Goodbye Lisa Bowman

January will see Netball NI say goodbye to a much loved and valued staff team member,  Lisa Bowman.

Lisa, who became the first Netball NI Schools Officer in her second role with the business having previously been employed through the Everybody Active Programme, has played a key role in supporting the growth and return of post primary school netball. Her leadership in this area has created solid partnerships across our schools network and she leaves this area of our business in a positive and exciting place.

Netball NI have an amazing staff team, who work hard and support one another so it’s always sad when anyone moves on. Lisa has been instrumental in our school’s restructure, providing new and improved opportunities for our school players alongside netball education support for our teachers. We will miss her in the staff team but know with her passion for netball, we will still see her on court and courtside and wish her all the best for the future.

Karen Rollo – Executive Manager

Northern Ireland U15 Academy Squads

The Northern Ireland U15 Academy is made up of 72 athletes across 4 different regions.

These squads are training towards a set of competition days in February that will end with one region being the Academy winner.

Congratulations to the selected athletes for this year’s Academies.

Safeguarding Board NI (SBNI) Publish ‘Spotlight on Bullying Report’

The Safeguarding Board NI (SBNI) have published a new  Spotlight on Cyberbullying Report by Stranmillis University College highlighting the nature and extent of online bullying behaviours among children and young people aged 8-18 in NI.  The report draws out key insights from the recent large-scale research project Growing Up Online: Children’s online activities, harm and safety in Northern Ireland which they hope will help inform online safety policy and practice.

The findings presented in this Spotlight report highlight the wide variety of online bullying behaviours which are experienced by local children and young people, ranging from mean or nasty comments being made or sent to them and being excluded from WhatsApp groups, through to online blackmail, threats and being told to harm or kill themselves.

 

Summary– Among the key findings from the 6500 survey responses and interviews with almost 100 children and young people are that:

  • A total of 13% of children aged 8-13 reported that someone had been mean to them online within the previous two months, with a higher incidence among girls than boys.
  • Girls aged 14-18 were more likely than boys to report that mean or nasty comments had been made about them or sent to them, more likely to have had lies or rumours told about them, and more likely to have been excluded from an online group.
  • Boys aged 14-18 were more likely than girls to report that someone had tried to blackmail them, that they had been threatened online, or that their account had been hacked.
  • LGBTQI+ young people aged 14-18 were more likely than heterosexual young people to report that they had received mean or nasty comments or that they had been threatened.
  • Less than a third (31%) of 14-18 year olds said that they had reported the cyberbullying compared to almost half (47%) of 8-13 year olds.  In both cases children and young people are more likely to tell their friends than family members or someone at school.
  • While incidents of online bullying were reported to have very significant emotional impact on the children and young people concerned, it was striking how some of the young people appeared to accept a certain level of online risk and danger, and appeared confident in dealing with such incidents.

Read the full report here 👉  Spotlight on Cyberbullying Report

Find out More 👉 Growing Up Online: Children’s online activities, harm and safety in Northern Ireland

Netball Northern Ireland Warriors Selection

A squad of 15 Warriors have been selected for December’s Test series vs ROI Emeralds.

Sheonah Forbes, NI Warriors Head Coach

“I cannot wait for my first test series with the squad, especially with it being on home soil. We have been really busy since I have come into the position of NI Warriors Head Coach and the squad has been progressing well. It will be great to get out there and see the squad on court against our neighbours.” 

Karen Rollo-Stewart, NNI Executive Manager

“I cannot wait to see our Warriors back on court in a home test series. The work behind the scenes from the entire squad, management and performance team has been phenomenal, with huge commitment and buy in from everyone to drive the Warriors forward both on court and off. It will be great to see them do what they love, and we are thrilled to be competing against our close neighbours, ROI Emeralds, who have been putting out some incredible performances over the last 12months.” 

Warriors Squad: 

Name  Club/Franchise   Court Area 
Niamh Cooper  Leeds Rhinos/Eagles NC  Mid Court 
Ciara Crosbie  Oldham NC  Circle Attack 
Frances Keenan  Belfast Ladies NC  Mid Court 
Emma Magee  Leeds Rhinos/The Downs NC  Circle Attack 
Michelle Magee  Leeds Rhinos/Grangetown NC  Circle Defence 
Evelyn McCagherty  Central Warriors/Weston Park Blades NC  Mid Court 
Georgie McGrath  Kingsway NC  Circle Attack 
Caroline O’Hanlon (C)   Leeds Rhinos/Larkfield NC  Mid Court 
Orlaith Rogers  Sirens Development/Northumbria University  Circle Attack 
Fionnuala Toner  Belfast Ladies NC  Circle Defence 
Lauren Walshe  Belfast Ladies NC  Circle Defence 
Maria McCann*  Belfast Ladies NC  Circle Defence 
Lisa Carlin**  Northeast Pheonix/Northumbria University  Circle Defence 
Reserve: Olivia McCloskey  Kingsway NC  Circle Attack 
Reserve: Orla McGeough  University of Liverpool  Mid Court 

*Maria McCann will be selected for the 12 in Test 1 and reserve for Test 2 

**Lisa Carlin will be selected for the 12 in Test 2 and reserve for Test 1 

Management

Head Coach: Sheonah Forbes 

Assistant Coach: Debbie Bleakley 

Team Manager: Beth Healy