Neville: I sleep on mattress with England badge
England coach tells Molly Mcelwee she is determined to ensure netball keeps growing
When Tracey Neville describes her motto as “eat, breathe, sleep netball” she is not exaggerating. Cackling with laughter, the England Vitality Roses head coach explains there is a mattress with the team badge printed on it, a gift awarded to all gold medallists at the Commonwealth Games, on its way to her home: “The funny thing is, I haven’t quite told my other half.”
Jokes aside, Neville does not seem the type who finds it easy to switch off. Despite insisting that she found time to celebrate after her England team’s historic gold against Australia at the Commonwealth Games in April, you find it difficult to believe her, given she was back to work a day later. “It was like a brain dump,” she says. “I was proper trying to get everything out of my head to make us better.”
In July next year, Liverpool will host the World Cup, and Neville is intent on making the statement that England will follow their maiden major victory. “You talk about winning after winning, and that’s important because we’ve never done,” she says.
Regardless of what lies ahead, netball is having a moment in this country. According to Yougov over 130,000 women have been inspired to start playing netball since the Roses’ win and tickets for England’s sessions at the World Cup are sold out – something that has proved an inconvenience for Neville as she was inundated with messages from fans who missed out. “I’m the head coach of England and not Ticketmaster,” she laughs.
Increased participation and interest has attracted significant sponsorship, too. Long-term partner Vitality committed to a new three-year deal in September and today England Netball announced a partnership with Nike to coincide with their first international Test at home in over a year against Uganda. Neville says the partnership is about more than funding, it’s about a legacy. “When I started out, there was just your mum and friends sat on a bench,” Neville explains of her amateur playing career, where she earned 81 caps for England. “To have Nike on board with us is huge.” Netball has long been the biggest women’s sport in the country and England Netball led UK sport in becoming the first governing body with an entirely female executive team. This role is important one for Neville and says the progression of female sport is encouraging, but not yet where it needs to be. Netball’s full-time programme has run since 2016, however the Superleague is still semi-professional. The hope is that the current momentum can drive development in the sport.
But Neville says the players are not naive, they understand “opportunities come off the back of wins”. Currently in the club off-season, the squad has been at camp together in Loughborough four days a week for the international calendar. Their most recent results – three losses in their Jamaica series and a loss to world No 1 side Australia at the Quad Series in September – indicate how tight it is at the top of world netball, and how difficult the World Cup will be.
The home internationals this week and in January are the perfect preparation – and Neville wants the crowd to match her own and the team’s competitive nature.