Surrey Storm’s Yaz Parsons is one of 29-players awarded Roses programme agreements by England Netball for the 2019-20 international season.
All players will be considered for selection at a number of events in the international calendar.
Sharing the news on her Twitter account, Yaz said: “I’m so excited to share this new adventure with you!!!! Beyond ecstatic!! The hard work really does pay off and I’m thrilled to finally be a full-time England Netball Player! I can’t wait to hit the ground running and start this new chapter in my life. Let the hard work begin!”
Also via Twitter, Mikki Austin responded: “Beyond proud of Yaz for this opportunity. You’ve worked so hard this past year, behind closed doors, with no one watching and it’s all paying off! Enjoy every minute.”
The Roses programme offers multiple routes of entry, one being the full-time Roses programme (P1); another being the P2 route, which offers English players in the Suncorp Super Netball and ANZ leagues to join the Roses programme at key junctures; and the final one being the P3 option whereby athletes who can’t commit full-time can still gain selection for international events via a set selection process.
25 players have been selected into the P1 or P2 Roses programme: Rebekah Airey, Summer Artman, Eleanor Cardwell, Ella Clark, Beth Cobden, Iona Darroch, Sophie Drakeford-Lewis, George Fisher, Jodie Gibson, Layla Guscoth, Serena Guthrie, Jo Harten, Natalie Haythornthwaite, Helen Housby, Laura Malcolm, Gabriella Marshall, Geva Mentor, Vicki Oyesola, Natalie Panagarry, Yasmin Parsons, Chelsea Pitman, Razia Quashie, Jessica Shaw, Kate Shimmin, Fran Williams
Jess Thirlby, Vitality Roses Head Coach, said: “I would like to congratulate all athletes on their selection into the Roses programme. It is wonderful to have so much talent in our Roses and Futures programme. There are a lot of exciting international competitions for us to look forward to in 2019-20 calendar, which I see as opportunities for us to expose both our experienced and newer talent to. I’m very much looking forward to working with this team as we head into another very exciting year for our sport.
“Each year of the Roses programme is critical for different reasons as we now start to look ahead and prepare for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games and the South Africa Netball World Cup in 2023.”
Sara Symington, Performance Director at England Netball, said: “We are delighted to be welcoming some new faces into the full-time Roses programme and to see many familiar faces still in the mix.
“At the end of each four year cycle we spend time reviewing and discussing with each player the best route for them to take going into the next international season. Often some choose to take an elongated break from the full time programme for a variety of reasons, for instance an extended rest and recovery window or to be able to focus on other commitments such as their careers off the court.
“Each player within the programme will receive access to an Athlete Performance Award (APA) based on their commitments going forward. This is a Lottery funded grant awarded in support of a player’s journey towards the podium at the Netball World Cup (NWC) and Commonwealth Games (CWG). Irrespective of previous performances, players will be nominated for funding if they are considered to be progressing towards, or continuing to achieve, Netball World Cup, Commonwealth Games and Youth World Cup medal performances.
“There’s a lot for the Roses within this programme to look forward to and work towards.”
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