England’s national netball team will reunite on court this November and December as they host an exciting ‘Vitality Roses Reunited Series’ that will see Head Coach Jess Thirlby’s side go head-to-head with the Jamaica Sunshine Girls during three days of international netball action on home soil.
Subject to COVID-19 travel restrictions the ‘Vitality Roses Reunited Series’ will get underway at the Copper Box Arena in London on 28 November, before moving on to the Motorpoint Arena in Nottingham where the Vitality Roses will play Jamaica for the final two days of the tour on 4 and 5 December.
The fixtures give the Vitality Roses players and coaching staff the opportunity to come together on home soil as the team continue preparations for the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham in 2022 where the England side will be defending their gold medal title. This series will also give fans across the country the opportunity to see a full strength squad and some of the most exciting netball talent in the world.
This will be the first time since the Vitality Netball Nations Cup in January 2020 that the Vitality Roses will play in front of spectators in England, with venues now welcoming full capacity crowds back.
The ‘Vitality Roses Reunited Series’ comes after the previously planned contest between the Vitality Roses and Jamaica was postponed back in January 2021 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic and travel restrictions in place between the two countries.
Jess Thirlby, the Vitality Roses Head Coach, said: “This is going to be an exciting series for the Vitality
Roses and our fans, and is an important part of our preparation for next year’s Commonwealth Games. We’ve missed getting out there in front of a home crowd and this will be an incredible opportunity to play a top team whilst reuniting both the Roses players and our supporters.”
David Parsons, Performance Director at England Netball, added: “We are grateful to everyone in the Jamaica camp for working closely with us to reschedule fixtures after our games couldn’t go ahead earlier this year. We know Jamaica will bring everything to the court and be a part of a brilliant spectacle of netball.
“It’s been a tough 18 months for our sport and everyone in it due to the pandemic, but we are delighted to be getting our national team back on court for fans to see whilst giving our players and coaching team vital time together as we continue to build towards Birmingham next year.”
England Netball members will receive a priority ‘pre-sale’ window email to purchase tickets to the ‘Vitality Roses Reunited Series’ from 12pm on Monday 27 September.
General tickets will go on-sale from 12pm on Thursday 30 September on the England Netball website.
Fans can follow all the action live via the England Netball Twitter account and on Sky Sports platforms, with exact programming details to be announced in due course.
The ‘Vitality Roses Reunited Series’ fixtures are as follows:
Sunday 28 November
Vitality Roses v Jamaica
Copper Box Arena, London
Saturday 4 December
Vitality Roses v Jamaica
Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham
Sunday 5 December
Vitality Roses v Jamaica
Motorpoint Arena, Nottingham
Courtesy of England Netball
