Ama Agbeze (born 12 November 1982) is an England netball international. She was captain when

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

won the gold medal at the

2018 Commonwealth Games The 2018 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXI Commonwealth Games and also known as Gold Coast 2018, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth that was held on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia, bet ...

. In

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

she received an for her services to netball. She was also a member of the England team that won the bronze medal at the

2006 Commonwealth Games The 2006 Commonwealth Games, officially the XVIII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Melbourne 2006, were an International sport, international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth held in Melbourne ...

. As of 2020, Agbeze has played for at least sixteen different club teams in

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

Early life, family and education

Agbeze was born to Nigerian parents in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

. She has two older sisters and a younger brother. She was educated at Kings Norton Girls' School and

Monkton Combe School Monkton Combe School is a public school ( fee-charging boarding and day school), in the village of Monkton Combe near Bath in Somerset, England. History Monkton Combe School was founded in 1868 by the Revd. Francis Pocock, a former curate ...

. Between 2004 and 2007 she attended

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for Post-nominal letters, post-nominals) is a public university, public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university sinc ...

where she gained an MSc in Finance and Management. She also studied Law and Criminal Justice at the

University of Leicester The University of Leicester ( ) is a public university, public research university based in Leicester, England. The main campus is south of the city centre, adjacent to Victoria Park, Leicester, Victoria Park. The university's predecessor, Univ ...

and is a qualified lawyer. In 2016 she married Fred Donovan, a New Zealander, in

Auckland Auckland ( ; ) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. It has an urban population of about It is located in the greater Auckland Region, the area governed by Auckland Council, which includes outlying rural areas and ...

Playing career

Super Cup

During the

Super Cup A super cup is a competition, in association football, basketball, handball, volleyball and rugby union which often forms the 'curtain raiser' to a season, and typically involves only two teams who have qualified through success in other competi ...

era, between 2001 and 2005, Agbeze played for Team Bath, Birmingham Blaze, Northumbria Flames and London Hurricanes.

Netball Superleague

Between

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

and

2007 2007 was designated as the International Heliophysical Year and the International Polar Year. Events January * January 1 **Bulgaria and Romania 2007 enlargement of the European Union, join the European Union, while Slovenia joins the Eur ...

, while attending

, Agbeze played for Loughborough Lightning in the

Netball Superleague The Netball Super League is an elite netball league in the United Kingdom. The league is organised by England Netball but features teams based in Netball in England, England, Netball in Wales, Wales and previously Netball in Scotland, Scotland. ...

. She would return to Lightning for a second spell in

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

. She also played for Leeds Carnegie during the 2008–09 season. Agbeze spent the 2019 Netball Superleague season at London Pulse, then joined up with Saracens Mavericks for the 2019 British Fast5 Netball All-Stars Championship before joining Severn Stars for the 2020 season.

Australia and New Zealand

Agbeze played for three franchises in the

ANZ Championship The ANZ Championship, also known as the Trans-Tasman Netball League, is a former netball league featuring teams from both Australia and New Zealand. Between 2008 and 2016, it was the top-level league in both countries. The competition was owned ...

. In

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

she was one of several England internationals to join the new league. Together with Karen Atkinson, she signed for West Coast Fever. She subsequently moved to the

Melbourne Vixens Melbourne Vixens is an netball in Australia, Australian professional netball team based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, Victoria. Since 2017 Suncorp Super Netball season, 2017 they have represented Netball Victoria in Suncorp Super Netball. B ...

for the 2009 season and then to

Central Pulse Central Pulse are a New Zealand netball team based in Wellington. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. Since 2017 they have represented Netball Central in the ANZ Premiership. Netball Central is the governing body that ...

for the 2010 season. In

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

she returned to West Coast Fever. 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. In 2013 she played for Territory Storm in the Australian Netball League, then rejoined Central Pulse for the

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

and 2015 ANZ Championship seasons. She subsequently played for

Adelaide Thunderbirds Adelaide Thunderbirds are an netball in Australia, Australian professional netball team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Since 2017 Suncorp Super Netball season, 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 ANZ Championship s ...

during the

2017 Suncorp Super Netball season The 2017 Suncorp Super Netball season was the inaugural season of the premier netball league in Australia, following the disbanding of the ANZ Championship in 2016. The regular season began on 18 February 2017 and concluded with the Grand Final ...

and for Northern Stars during the

2018 ANZ Premiership season The 2018 ANZ Premiership season was the second season of Netball New Zealand's ANZ Premiership. With a team coached by Reinga Bloxham, captained by Wendy Frew and featuring Gina Crampton, Shannon Francois, Te Paea Selby-Rickit and Te Huinga Reo ...

. She played for

Northern Mystics Northern Mystics are a New Zealand netball team based in Auckland. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. Since 2017 they have represented Netball Northern in the ANZ Premiership. Netball Northern is the governing body t ...

during the 2021 ANZ Premiership season.

England

Agbeze made her senior debut for

in 2001. She was a member of the England team that won the bronze medal at the

. In 2016 she was appointed England captain She subsequently captained England as they won the 2016 European Netball Championship, the

2017 Fast5 Netball World Series The 2017 Fast5 Netball World Series was the 8th Fast5 Netball World Series. Australia hosted England, Jamaica, Malawi, New Zealand and South Africa in a series, played in October 2017, at Melbourne's Hisense Arena. With a team coached by Tracey ...

and the gold medal at the

. In October 2018, Agbeze made 100th senior appearance for England during a series against

Jamaica Jamaica is an island country in the Caribbean Sea and the West Indies. At , it is the third-largest island—after Cuba and Hispaniola—of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean. Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, west of Hispaniola (the is ...

. In

she received an for her services to netball. For the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games, Agbeze appeared as an analyst for the BBC's coverage of the netball.

Honours

;

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

**''Winners'':

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

: 1 *

Fast5 Netball World Series The Fast5 Netball World Series is an annual international Fast5 netball competition. The competition, which began in October 2009, features modified Fast5 rules, and has been likened to Twenty20 cricket and rugby sevens. The competition is co ...

**''Winners'':

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

: 1 * European Netball Championship **''Winners'': 2016: 1 *

Netball Quad Series The Netball Quad Series, also referred to as the SANZEA Netball Quad Series, is an international netball series. The series traditionally features Australia national netball team, Australia, England national netball team, England, New Zealand nati ...

**''Runners up '': 2018 (Jan), 2018 (Sep): 2 ;

**''Winners'':

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

;

ANZ Premiership The ANZ Premiership is the top level netball league featuring teams from New Zealand. In 2017 it replaced the ANZ Championship, which also included teams from Australia, as the top level netball league in New Zealand. It is organised by Netbal ...

**''Winners'':

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Agbeze, Ama 1982 births Living people English netball players English netball coaches Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Netball players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Netball players at the 2018 Commonwealth Games AENA Super Cup players Netball Superleague players ANZ Championship players ANZ Premiership players Suncorp Super Netball players Australian Netball League players West Australian Netball League players New South Wales state netball league players Territory Storm players Surrey Storm players Yorkshire Jets players Loughborough Lightning netball players London Pulse players Mavericks netball players Team Northumbria netball players Team Bath netball players Severn Stars players Adelaide Thunderbirds players Central Pulse players Melbourne Vixens players Northern Stars players West Coast Fever players Northern Mystics players Sportspeople from Birmingham, West Midlands English expatriate netball people in Australia English expatriate netball people in New Zealand Black British sportswomen English people of Ghanaian descent Sportspeople of Ghanaian descent People educated at Monkton Combe School Alumni of Loughborough University Alumni of the University of Leicester Members of the Order of the British Empire 21st-century English lawyers 21st-century English women lawyers 21st-century English women Medallists at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 2018 Commonwealth Games England international Fast5 players 21st-century English sportswomen England international netball players Commonwealth Games gold medallists in netball Commonwealth Games bronze medallists in netball