By Natasha Bennett, Year 8

Earlier this month, we were lucky to have the opportunity to hear from three top netball players with international backgrounds as part of a webinar set up in partnership with St Paul’s Girls School.

The panel of three included:

Kadeen Corbin – who was part of the England squad that won gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and has won more than 70 caps for the England Roses since her debut against New Zealand back in 2011. She is currently playing for Saracens Mavericks in the Vitality Netball Super League alongside sister Sasha.

Razia Quashie – who made her England Roses debut in October 2018, she currently plays in defence for the Saracens Mavericks after coming up through their pathway system.

Zara Everitt – who has been playing international netball since the age of 16. She has since been a part of Mavericks, Loughborough Lightning and has now signed for London Pulse. Zara has recently finished her law degree at Oxford University.

We heard first about the three players’ journeys to playing for England and we were especially interested to hear about Kadeen when she was asked to try out for Middlesex County Trials at age 14. She explained how she played for her county first for two years before being spotted by an England scout in a county game and being invited to a national screening. She didn’t make it in the first year, but did get called up in the second year, getting a call to train with the England National Squad for seven months before being selected for the team. 

Netball like most sports is full of highs and lows which the netballers shared with us. Zara spoke about her excitement of going on tour in Jamaica with England and being selected as a sub, but then the lows of dropping out of the Super League for a year because of her studies, which she found tough.

One of Razia’s biggest lows was not getting selected for Netball Europe. A high for her was playing behind the legendary Geva Mentor and learning from her. In the first year Razia didn’t get selected but she did when she was at university. She ripped her hand and so was out for a while, but seeing everyone else play when she was injured fired up her determination!

Kadeen’s biggest high were winning the amazing Commonwealth Games gold medal in 2018 and also gaining her first official proper cap for England – she couldn’t believe she could do it and missed a few shots, but was kept on the court and played better. Her lows were two major knee surgeries which she felt meant she was missing out on playing on her peak.

Looking forward, Zara is hoping to get more senior experience and improve her skills, but also wants to qualify as a solicitor and find a balance between the two! Razia is looking forward to the World Cup and is aspiring to win a Commonwealth Gold medal in Birmingham next year! Kadeen also wants to compete in a World Cup and go for gold!

We then asked for their top tips.

Q: How do you balance your sport with your school work?

A: Be as organised as you can. Get everything ready beforehand. Make sure if you are struggling to talk to teachers. Enjoy everything you are doing. Believe and know what you can cope with.

Q: How do you pick yourself up from injury or low points?

A: Have a support system of family and friends. Remember injury isn’t the end of the road but a bump in it. Let stuff out to a psychologist. Other people have come out of lows to reach great highs.

Q: What’s your top advice for training?

A: Don’t become complacent, but do believe you can do it. Celebrate the good stuff try things out while you can. Push yourself in training – don’t go easy on the GA in training if you are a GD – push each other to benefit the whole team. Try out attack if you are a defender and don’t just focus on your strengths. Regardless  if you are a senior or younger  player, voice what you want to find out. Trust your team. Focus on strengths and weaknesses and that will get you where you need to go. Do not stress and know what you can bring and have confidence. Don’t let people doubt what you are good at and believe in your abilities because you are the only ones with those skills. With practise things become more natural and not forced.

Q: Did you play other sports before netball?

Zara – basketball, athletics lots of sports but played netball since she was 8 and got selected when she was young. Other sports helped develop her game sense. 

Kadeen- gymnastics, athletics – all sport have transferable skills, so don’t pick a sport until you try as many sports as you – wait til you’re 18 before settling on your favorite sport.

Razia – athletic, rugby and did the triple jump so she can jump high and was also a heptathlete.

Q: If you get frustrated on court what do you do?

A: Refocus collect yourself. Motivate other teammates. Take inspiration from other players. 

Thank you so much to Kadeen, Zara and Razia for taking the time to talk to us – it was really inspiring for us and we will be watching out for you in the Netball Super League this season – good luck!