Helen Housby, the 28-year-old shooter who made her debut for the Vitality Roses in 2014, has been honoured with an MBE (Member of the Order of the British Empire) as part of the King’s New Year Honours list for 2024. This recognition is in acknowledgment of her significant contributions and successes for England Netball during her career.
Growing up, Housby was an avid Manchester United fan, idolising David Beckham and his talent with the football, but now she finds herself inspiring the next generation with a different type of ball, following the exponential growth in the popularity of women’s sport.
“Growing up, a lot of my role models were men, because that’s who I saw on the TV. I love football and I think we always saw the men getting the awards and being in the papers. Now that female sport is on the rise and women are getting great contracts, they’re now in the news and winning awards”.
Helen Housby, Sky Sports Edition.
Spanning a decade long career, Housby’s first club signing was playing for Manchester Thunder from 2013 to 2016, helping them win the 2014 Super League Grand Final against rivals Surrey Storm. Since 2017, she has played for the New South Wales Swifts and has an impressive record down under!
In 2023, Helen was named the QBE ‘Most Valuable Player’ after a sterling Suncorp Super Netball season. The England international, who topped the Premierships with the Swifts in 2019 and 2021, has been a standout player for the club, helping them reach 3 Grand Finals in 5 years.
In 2018, during the very last second, Helen Housby scored the winning goal for England in the Commonwealth Games final, beating Australia by one goal, securing England’s historic first ever Commonwealth Netball gold medal! Winning remains Housby’s driving force and admits “The 30 minutes after the whistle blows and you’ve won a huge final are the most fun minutes of your life.“ – Helen Housby
Helen’s outstanding performance at the Netball World Cup 2023, where she was named Player of the Tournament and Best Shooter of the Tournament, played a pivotal role in England’s historic journey to their first-ever final, where they finished as runners-up to Australia. During the summer, the Vitality Roses’ on-court heroics captivated the attention of 3.5 million viewers through BBC and Sky Sports, leading to a rush of interest in netball participation, with a remarkable surge in website traffic with over 150,000 more users visiting the England Netball site.
In January, Helen will return to action with the Vitality Roses at the Vitality Netball Nations Cup, where they will face Australia, New Zealand, and Uganda. Tickets are still available for some of the London and Leeds matches!
Play Netball send our huge congratulations to Helen for her remarkable and ongoing contributions to our favourite sport.
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