All roads for England’s netball team lead, inexorably, towards the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham next summer, when the Roses will attempt to reprise their memorable success at the 2018 Games in Gold Coast.
Many of the players who won that gold medal, clinched with a thrilling last-gasp victory over Australia in the final, remain firmly on course to play in Birmingham, and there is huge experience in the squad, with Jade Clarke, 38, likely to go to her fifth Commonwealth Games, while both Jo Harten, 32, and Eboni Usoro-Brown, 33, will go to their fourth.
However, the senior players are being pushed hard by a new generation of talent, at the forefront of which is Funmi Fadoju, the dynamic London Pulse defender, who was called up to the England senior squad for the first time in the recent series against Jamaica.
Fadoju, 19, from Dagenham, is hugely athletic, often seeming taller than her 5ft 9in stature, with a laser-sharp eye for an interception on the netball court.
“Funmi could have been very good at any sport she pursued,” Amanda Newton, the Pulse pathway coach and a former England defender, said.
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“Thankfully, she got the right support at netball.
“She turns over so much ball, I often think she doesn’t realise how good she is.”
Expect to see much more of Fadoju in the Quad Series at the Copper Box Arena next month, when the Roses will take on Australia, New Zealand and South Africa, which should provide a clear indication of their prospects of winning another gold medal in Birmingham next summer.
● Age 19
● Club London Pulse
● Position Goal defence, goal keeper
● Height 5ft 9in
● Achievements Netball Europe winner, 2019 — under-17, under-19 and seniors; Young Player of the Season, 2021, at Vitality Netball Superleague awards; On Roses Futures programme for 2021-22
