Roses Confirm Squad for 2026–27 Season

The Roses players that are in the 2026-27 programme have been announced.

What’s New in the Pathway?
Alongside Roses A, England Netball has introduced:

• NXT Roses — focused on athletes aged 19–23, offering high-intensity competition to bridge the gap between domestic and international play.
• Roses Academy — for under-18 athletes, helping them build strong technical and tactical foundations.
• Regional Positional Days — returning to widen the talent pool and give more young players exposure to national-level standards.

The Commonwealth Games take place in Glasgow from 25 July to 2 August 2026, and more details about upcoming Roses fixtures will be shared soon.

Of the 21 athletes selected, 17 are based in the UK playing in the NSL and the remaining four play domestic netball in the Suncorp Super Netball (SSN) league in Australia.

Vitality Roses Head Coach Anna Stembridge commented: “I’m delighted to share the group of athletes who will make up the full-time Vitality Roses programme for the year ahead. I firmly believe that among this group we have the talent, commitment and the technical and tactical diversity that will enable us to perform at the highest level in the Commonwealth Games this summer, whilst also building towards the Netball World Cup just a year later in 2027. This is an exciting group of athletes, who we are confident provide the right mix of continuity and exciting fresh talent, with both experienced campaigners returning and young stars who are transitioning up from Future Roses or entering the programme for the first time.

“We are lucky to have a number of seasoned tournament campaigners among the group, with Eleanor, Helen, Natalie and Imogen having all experienced the unique multi-sport Commonwealth Games environment. The knowledge and advice they will be able to share with the whole group, and particularly with younger athletes like Gracie and Izzi who are entering the Vitality Roses for the first time, will be invaluable as the group enters two pinnacle years in the international cycle.”

Roses A programme:

Josie Pointon, Roses Pathway Head Coach, commented on the selection, saying: “We are incredibly excited to announce the athletes selected for the new Roses A programme. This programme represents an  important step within the England pathway, creating a more intentional and supportive environment for athletes transitioning towards the Vitality Roses. This is an exciting group of athletes who bring a huge amount of talent, potential and ambition to the pathway. We firmly believe these athletes have the potential to represent England on the international stage in the future, and the Roses A programme will play an important role in supporting them on that transition journey towards senior international netball.

“This group represents an exciting future for the Roses pathway, and we look forward to seeing them embrace the opportunities ahead with ambition and pride.”

Alongside the new Roses A programme, further changes have been made to the Pathway with the introduction of NXT Roses, a re-imagined Roses Academy and the re-introduction of Regional Positional Days. NXT Roses has been introduced to accelerate athlete progression with a focus on the 19-23 age group (aligned to NXT Gen eligibility). It will provide targeted, high-intensity, high-impact competition opportunities, designed to bridge the gap between domestic performance and international competition expectations. Sitting below NXT Roses will be the Roses Academy for under-18 athletes which exists to build athlete capability across technical, tactical, physical and behavioural benchmarks, embedding the Roses Way among young athletes through a combination of structured training and purposeful competition opportunities. Finally, Regional Positional Days will be reintroduced in the 2026-27 season with the aim of widening the identification pool of athletes and exposing more athletes to national performance standards early in their Pathway journeys.

England Netball Performance Director David Parsons said: “With two global tournaments, this summer’s Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and next year’s Netball World Cup in Sydney, falling in this next 18 months, there couldn’t be a more exciting time for athletes to demonstrate and benchmark their qualities on the world stage. The group selected for the Vitality Roses programme contains a really vibrant mix of proven quality and breakthrough talent and we are looking forward to supporting their progress.

“The revamped Roses Pathway programmes enable us to be more targeted in our support for future international athletes alongside the NSL Clubs, and the group selected for the new Roses A programme will be supported to make that jump into the senior squad in the coming years.”

The Commonwealth Games will take place this summer in Glasgow between 25 July and 2 August. Further information on upcoming fixtures for the Vitality Roses will be announced in due course.