​Former England netball head coach Jess Thirlby says it feels “horrible” to miss out on leading her country at the Commonwealth Games, but she is at peace with her decision to resign for family reasons. Thirlby stepped down in March, a mere 130 days before the Games begin in Glasgow on July 23, with England starting their campaign against Northern Ireland two days later. After guiding the side for six and a half years, her departure shocked many, especially since she had steered England to a World Cup silver medal in 2023. Anna Stembridge has since taken over the role.
“They are the best jobs in the world, being able to lead your country. In any sport, and likewise outside of sport, I guess to other people it comes as a great shock because these decisions are not easy to take,” she told BBC Total Sport. “Still navigating not being with the team is an interesting period in lots of ways. I’m quite sad but overwhelmingly just proud to have been able to do that job, both play and coach my country, and be the longest-serving Roses coach. I appreciate to the outside world things can seem a bit confusing. You have to accept that not everybody is going to understand, but it has to be the right decision for me and my family.”
She added: “Of course it’s horrible missing out on leading your team through the Commonwealth Games, but my job was much bigger than that. I needed to change the culture around how coaching was seen in the England set-up. We haven’t really trusted our own homegrown coaches, and I think there are a number that we can and should trust. We’re very quick to change coaches—and it’s about creating a foundation for further and elevated success.”
England finished as runners-up at the 2023 Netball World Cup under Thirlby’s guidance after a 61-45 final defeat to Australia in South Africa, five years on from winning the Commonwealth Games gold medal in dramatic fashion against the Diamonds under her predecessor Tracey Neville. The Roses have been drawn in the same pool as Australia, whom they face in Glasgow on July 26, along with South Africa, Malawi, Tonga and Northern Ireland.
Thirlby, who represented England as a player at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, believes the gap between England and Australia is narrowing. “The fact that our fans are expectant now for the team to be successful is a million miles away from when I represented England. It was damage limitation—how many are we going to lose by? We just need to play Australia more. We need to get under their skin, and I actually think they don’t want to play us as much any more. We’ve just started to turn the tide.”