The Times - UK - 04.12.2021

the times | Saturday December 4 2021 1GS 21

Netball Sport

F

or a new mother in sport, it is

one thing to express a desire

to return to an elite level of

competition after your child

has been born, but quite

another to regain your former powers

once back in the fray. When she was

recalled to an England training camp

in the summer, just under a year after

giving birth to her daughter and two

years since she had played

international netball, Eboni Usoro-

Brown quickly realised just how steep

a challenge she faced if she was going

to play at the highest level again.

“I was really glad when Jess

[Thirlby, the England head coach]

invited me back,” Usoro-Brown said.

“But when I got there, I was terrible. I

was right at the back in terms of

cardiovascular testing, the strength

scores weren’t there, and just getting

back up to the pace and physicality of

the game was hard. Having had a

baby, you come back differently,

mentally as well as physically. There

was a decision to make that, if I was

going to commit to this, I was going

to have to train, and train hard. Just

because I’d been in the squad before,

there were absolutely no guarantees. I

had to make the grade.”

As well as her efforts to return to

playing international netball, Usoro-

Brown, 33, had also resumed her job

as a commercial solicitor in Bristol, so

she knew she was going to be busy.

“There’s a lot of plate-spinning goes

on,” she said. “I’d drop Savannah [her

daughter] at nursery, go out and train

for 1½ hours, then log on to work. In

the afternoon, there’ll be a recovery

session before picking Savannah up,

then her bath and bedtime routine.

And I try to have a little downtime

with my husband, too. You’re trying

to balance everything, but I had that

goal in mind, and that kept things

really clear.”

When the Roses’ team was named

for the first of the three-match

Vitality Series against Jamaica last

weekend, Usoro-Brown had indeed

made the grade once again, earning

selection for her 105th cap at the

Copper Box Arena, 861 days after her

104th. “Where I’d come from, and

where I’d got to, it was a real

dedicated effort,” she said. “Putting on

that red dress again was a huge feat,

one I’m immensely proud of.”

The final two instalments of the

series against Jamaica will be held in

Nottingham, today and tomorrow, as

the Roses look to build on their 55-45

victory in London last Sunday.

Coming off the bench to play

goalkeeper, Usoro-Brown made a

significant contribution in minimising

the impact made by Jhaniele Fowler,

the 6ft 5in goal shooter, one of the

game’s leading attacking forces,

some 4in taller than Usoro-

Brown. “I enjoyed it, Jhaniele

is world class and we’ve had a

fair few battles over the years,”

she said. “I know she’s going to

come back with a vengeance

this weekend.”

After trailing 26-25 at half-

time, the Roses dominated

the second half to claim

first blood in a series

that is the first step in a

significant season for

English netball. A

quadrangular series with

Australia, New Zealand

and South Africa follows

in January, with the

ultimate goal of the

Commonwealth

Games in

Birmingham

next

summer

looming

ever larger.

It was at the

Commonwealth

Games in Gold Coast in 2018 that

England netball enjoyed its finest

hour, with a breathless victory over

Australia in the final, and the

prospect of competing on the grand

stage again, in the city of her birth,

has been a considerable motivation

for Usoro-Brown.

Just to be back on court

playing for her country, though,

for the first time since the 2019

World Cup, in which England

finished third, is more than she

had anticipated. “After the

Commonwealth Games gold

medal in 2018, then the

World Cup the next

year, I was

exhausted,” she

said. “I was a

solicitor by day, I

have a husband

and family, there

are younger

players coming

through, and I

had Savannah

in August 2020.

I can honestly

say that I never

really expected to

be back in a

Roses dress. But

playing in the

Super League

[for Team Bath]

gave me the

buzz back.”

As she embarked upon her return,

she looked at role models in sport

who had successfully resumed their

careers after giving birth. “In netball,

Liana Leota is a shining example, she

played for New Zealand and is now

one of our coaches,” Usoro-Brown

said. “She’s had five young ones and

she’s still playing exceptionally for

Severn Stars in the Super League. The

likes of Jess Ennis-Hill have been an

inspiration and Helen Glover coming

back at the Olympics. I just think the

conversation about being an elite

athlete and motherhood is becoming

more commonplace. It should be a

consideration for all governing bodies

that you don’t have to retire before

you think about motherhood.”

Each of the Roses players facing

Jamaica has emblazoned on their

dress the name of a person who has

inspired them along their path to

international netball. Under the

England badge, Usoro-Brown has the

name of her mother, Pauline

Beckford, a head teacher and talented

basketball player in her day.

“The motivation is more for my

daughter now,” Usoro-Brown said. “I

want to show her an example that just

because I became a mother as an elite

athlete I didn’t give up on my dreams.

My daughter might grow up playing

football and want to be a Lioness. But

I want to show her that, whatever she

wants to do, if she puts her mind to it,

she knows that she can do it.”

‘My child will know I didn’t give up’

Eboni Usoro-Brown tells

John Westerby of

sacrifices she made to

earn an England recall

after daughter’s birth

t

h

Usoro-Brown is proud

“put on that red dress”