Eboni Usoro-Brown (; born 4 February 1988) is an English former

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...

player who played for

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 ...

and

Team Bath Team Bath is the University of Bath's sporting organisation. In addition to entering teams in BUCS intervarsity competitions, Team Bath has also entered teams in national leagues and competitions. Team Bath F.C. reached the first round proper o ...

as a defender. She was part of the England team which won a historic gold at the

2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England betw ...

Early life and education

Usoro-Brown attended

Gordon's School Gordon's School is a secondary school with academy status in West End near Woking, Surrey, England. It was founded as the Gordon Boys' Home in 1885. It is now one of the 36 state boarding schools in England. It converted to an academy on 1 J ...

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

from 2001 to 2004. She then studed Law at the

University of Bristol The University of Bristol is a public university, public research university in Bristol, England. It received its royal charter in 1909, although it can trace its roots to a Merchant Venturers' school founded in 1595 and University College, Br ...

graduating in 2009, before completing the LLM degree in 2010 at the same Law School. Usoro-Brown went on to complete the Legal Practice Course at the

University of the West of England The University of the West of England (also known as UWE Bristol) is a Public university, public research university, located in and around Bristol, England, UK. With more than 39,912 students and 4,300 staff, it is the largest provider of hi ...

Club career

Team Bath

Usoro-Brown joined Team Bath in 2006 and was part of the

Super League Super League (also known as the Betfred Super League for sponsorship reasons, and legally Super League Europe Ltd.) is a professional rugby league competition, and the highest level of the British rugby league system, which consists of twelve t ...

winning squads of

2006 2006 was designated as the International Year of Deserts and Desertification. Events January * January 1– 4 – Russia temporarily cuts shipment of natural gas to Ukraine during a price dispute. * January 12 – A stampede during t ...

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 ...

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 ...

and

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

West Coast Fever

She joined Australian club

West Coast Fever West Coast Fever is a professional Australian netball team based in Perth, Western Australia. Since 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they competed in the ANZ Championship. Between 1997 and 2007, as Pert ...

, based in Perth in 2011 to play under legendary coach

Norma Plummer Norma Margaret Plummer AM (born 24 November 1944) is a former Australian national player who also served as netball coach for both Australia and South Africa. She was coach of Australia from 2003 to 2011, ending her coaching career with the D ...

. She was named Fever’s Most Valuable Player for the 2014 and 2015 seasons.

Adelaide Thunderbirds

Usoro-Brown moved to the

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 ...

for the 2015 season.

Team Bath

She returned to

ahead of the 2016 season and captained the Blue and Gold for six seasons until 2021. She announced her pregnancy during the 2020 season but returned for the 2021 season.

Queensland Firebirds

Usoro-Brown joined the

Queensland Firebirds Queensland Firebirds are an Australian professional netball team based in Brisbane, Queensland. Since 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship and between 1997 and 2007, they pl ...

ahead of the 2022 season to give herself the best possible chance of making the

squad. She announced her retirement from netball following the games.

International career

Usoro-Brown made her international debut for England in 2008 at the age of twenty against

Malawi Malawi, officially the Republic of Malawi, is a landlocked country in Southeastern Africa. It is bordered by Zambia to the west, Tanzania to the north and northeast, and Mozambique to the east, south, and southwest. Malawi spans over and ...

. She was part of the English netball team where England went onto host the

2009 World Netball Series The 2009 World Netball Series was the inaugural tournament of the World Netball Series. The 2009 Series was held at MEN Arena in Manchester, England from 9–11 October, and was the first major trial of the new FastNet rules that were announced by ...

and was ultimately her first Championship since her debut. Eboni has also served as a key member of the national team at the

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 201 ...

where England secured a bronze medal in the team event and also played a key part in clinching a silver medal for England in the

2010 World Netball Series The 2010 World Netball Series was the 2nd World Netball Series. England hosted Australia, Jamaica, Malawi, New Zealand and South Africa in a series, played in November 2010, at Liverpool's Echo Arena. South Africa made their series debut in this ...

. Eboni also named as one of the members of the English netball team for the

2011 World Netball Championships The 2011 World Netball Championships () was the 13th edition of the INF Netball World Cup, a quadrennial premier event in international netball. It was held in Singapore from 3–10 July. All 48 matches were played at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. ...

where England settled for the bronze medal in the team event. Eboni went onto represent

England at the 2014 Commonwealth Games England competed at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland, between 23 July and 3 August 2014. Commonwealth Games England named a team of 416 athletes consisting of 216 men and 200 women across the 18 disciplines. Administration On 11 ...

for the second consecutive time at the Commonwealth Games and was part of the netball team which went medalless at the competition finishing fourth. At the 2015 World Netball Championships, she was instrumental in England's third-place finish with a defensive role. She competed for

England at the 2018 Commonwealth Games England competed at the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Queensland, Gold Coast, Australia between 4 and 15 April 2018. It was England's 21st appearance at the Commonwealth Games, having participated at every Games since their inception in ...

which is also her third successive CWG Games appearance. At the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, she was part of the English national netball team which stunned defending Commonwealth Games champion and world champion

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 ...

52–51 in the team event to secure historic gold medal after a thrilling finish. Usuro-Brown was selected in England's 12-player squad for the

2019 Netball World Cup The 2019 Netball World Cup (also known as the 2019 Vitality Netball World Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 15th edition of the INF Netball World Cup. It was held from 12–21 July 2019 at the Liverpool Arena in Liverpool, England with matches ...

. She announced she would retire from netball following the

Personal life

She gave birth to her daughter Savannah in August 2020.

References

External links