Ama Agbeze

Last updated

Ama Agbeze
MBE
Ama Agbeze.jpg
Personal information
Born (1982-11-12) 12 November 1982 (age 41)
Selly Oak, England
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) [1]
School Kings Norton Girls' School
Monkton Combe School
University Loughborough University
University of Leicester
Netball career
Playing position(s): GD, GK, WD
YearsClub team(s)Apps
2001–2002 Team Bath
2003 Birmingham Blaze
2004 Northumbria Flames
2004–2007 Loughborough Lightning
2005 → London Hurricanes
2008 West Coast Fever
2008–2009 Leeds Carnegie
2009 Melbourne Vixens
2010 Central Pulse
2011 West Coast Fever
2012–2013 West Coast Falcons
2013 Territory Storm
2014–2015 Central Pulse
2016 Loughborough Lightning
2017 Adelaide Thunderbirds
2018 Northern Stars
2019 London Pulse
2019 Saracens Mavericks
2020 Severn Stars
2021 Northern Mystics
YearsNational team(s)Caps
2001– England 100
Medal record
Representing Flag of England.svg  England
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2018 Gold Coast Team
Bronze medal icon (B initial).svg 2006 Melbourne Team
Fast5 Netball World Series
Gold medal icon (G initial).svg 2017 Melbourne Team
Last updated: 31 March 2020

Ama Agbeze MBE (born 12 November 1982) is an England netball international. She was captain when England won the gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. In 2019 she received an MBE for her services to netball. She was also a member of the England team that won the bronze medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. As of 2020, Agbeze has played for at least sixteen different club teams in England, Australia and New Zealand.

Contents

Early life, family and education

Agbeze was born to Nigerian parents in Birmingham. She has two older sisters and a younger brother. She was educated at Kings Norton Girls' School and Monkton Combe School. [2] [3] [4] Between 2004 and 2007 she attended Loughborough University where she gained an MSc in Finance and Management. [5] [6] [7] [8] [9] She also studied Law and Criminal Justice at the University of Leicester and is a qualified lawyer. [10] [2] In 2016 she married Fred Donovan, a New Zealander, in Auckland. [2] [11]

Playing career

Super Cup

During the Super Cup era, between 2001 and 2005, Agbeze played for Team Bath, Birmingham Blaze, Northumbria Flames and London Hurricanes. [12] [13] [14] [15] [16]

Netball Superleague

Between 2005 and 2007, while attending Loughborough University, Agbeze played for Loughborough Lightning in the Netball Superleague. [6] [7] [9] She would return to Lightning for a second spell in 2016. [5] [17] She also played for Leeds Carnegie during the 2008–09 season. [18]

Agbeze spent the 2019 Netball Superleague season at London Pulse, [19] [20] [21] then joined up with Saracens Mavericks for the 2019 British Fast5 Netball All-Stars Championship [22] [23] before joining Severn Stars for the 2020 season. [24] [25]

Australia and New Zealand

Agbeze played for three franchises in the ANZ Championship. In 2008 she was one of several England internationals to join the new league. Together with Karen Atkinson, she signed for West Coast Fever. [26] [27] She subsequently moved to the Melbourne Vixens for the 2009 season and then to Central Pulse for the 2010 season. In 2011 she returned to West Coast Fever. [28] During 2012 Agbeze served as a player-coach for West Coast Falcons, helping them win the West Australian Netball League. She was also awarded the Jill McIntosh Medal. [29] [30] In 2013 she played for Territory Storm in the Australian Netball League, [31] [32] then rejoined Central Pulse for the 2014 and 2015 ANZ Championship seasons. [28] [33] [34] She subsequently played for Adelaide Thunderbirds during the 2017 Suncorp Super Netball season [1] [2] [35] and for Northern Stars during the 2018 ANZ Premiership season. [36] She played for Northern Mystics during the 2021 ANZ Premiership season. [37] [38]

England

Agbeze made her senior debut for England in 2001. She was a member of the England team that won the bronze medal at the 2006 Commonwealth Games. [1] [39] In 2016 she was appointed England captain [17] [40] She subsequently captained England as they won the 2016 European Netball Championship, [41] the 2017 Fast5 Netball World Series [42] and the gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. [21] [39] [43] [44] In October 2018, Agbeze made 100th senior appearance for England during a series against Jamaica. [45] In 2019 she received an MBE for her services to netball. [6] [46] [47]

TournamentsPlace
2006 Commonwealth Games [1] Bronze medal icon.svg
2007 World Netball Championships [48] 4th
2011 Taini Jamison Trophy Series [49] 2nd
2014 Commonwealth Games [34] 4th
2014 Taini Jamison Trophy Series [50] 2nd
2016 European Netball Championship [40] [41] [51] Gold medal icon.svg
2016 Netball Quad Series [52] [53] 3rd
2016 Fast5 Netball World Series [54] 4th
2017 Netball Quad Series (January/February) [55] 3rd
2017 Netball Quad Series (August/September) [56] [57] 3rd
2017 Taini Jamison Trophy Series [58] 2nd
2017 Fast5 Netball World Series [42] Gold medal icon.svg
2018 Netball Quad Series (January) [59] [60] 2nd
2018 Commonwealth Games [7] [10] [43] [61] Gold medal icon.svg
2018 Netball Quad Series (September) [62] 2nd

Source: [1]

Honours

England
Melbourne Vixens
Northern Mystics

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References

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  2. 1 2 3 4 "New Adelaide Thunderbird's player Agbeze here to have fun and play hard". www.adelaidenow.com.au. 16 December 2016. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
  3. ↑ "Ama's 50th is a special occasion". monktoncombeschool.com. 24 January 2013. Archived from the original on 16 February 2013. Retrieved 16 February 2013.
  4. ↑ "The stars are out as city's "social" aims to show off all Brum has to offer". Birmingham Mail. 27 July 2019. Retrieved 29 March 2020.
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  38. ↑ "Former England Roses captain rekindles career in NZ". www.rnz.co.nz. 22 March 2021. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
  39. 1 2 "England captain Ama Agbeze dropped from Netball World Cup squad by head coach Tracey Neville". www.skysports.com. 22 May 2019. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  40. 1 2 "Ama Agbeze is relishing the challenge of captaining England in Netball Europe". www.skysports.com. 21 April 2016. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
  41. 1 2 "Roses take Netball Europe title!". www.englandnetball.co.uk. 16 May 2016. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
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  43. 1 2 "Commonwealth Games: England shock Australia to win netball gold". www.bbc.com. 15 April 2018. Retrieved 21 April 2018.
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  53. ↑ "England overpowered by clinical Australia". 4theloveofsport.co.uk. 31 August 2016. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
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  56. ↑ "Blue and Gold stars past and present play key roles in another Quad Series cracker". www.teambath.com. 3 September 2017. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
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