One netball legend steps down... and another jumps up

Tuesday 16 May 2023

The head coach of Team Jets has announced her retirement from coaching, with local legend and former England netball captain Serena Kersten to take over the team she holds “very close to her heart”.

Linda Andrews, the head coach of Team Jets since the team was founded in 2005, celebrated her retirement on Saturday with a surprise event at the Ommaroo Hotel.

There were "so many generations of Jets", Linda said. "I have been coaching some of these girls since they were about ten years old, many of which go to university, go travelling, and then return to play for us. I have seen these girls grow up throughout the years."

One of these past players, Serena Kersten (previously Guthrie), is now taking on the role.

She got her start with Linda and Team Jets before going on to captain the England netball team 28 times – including at the 2019 World Cup – and win a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games.

Pictured: Serena was voted the best centre-court player in world netball for 2015.

In 2019, the former Le Rocquier student was also awarded an MBE for her services to netball and crowned CI Sports Personality of the Year.

Last year, Serena stepped down from international and elite domestic netball, and returned to the Island.

Serena said: "It's exciting for me to be coaching the Jets, especially because this is a team that I hold very close to my own heart. I'm passionate about Jersey netball, and it's where I started my career."

She said: "The goal going forward is the national and international leagues. I want to push the girls to their highest potential, to play in the highest league that they can, which might mean Premier League 2 over the next few years. There's a lot of talent in the Island right now, and we have a real chance of getting there again."

Linda – who is also President of the Jersey Netball Association – said she was leaving with "mixed emotions" and feels comfortable "handing over the reins to Serena".

"It's just remarkable to have somebody of her calibre take over the journey that I began 18 years ago," she said.

Pictured: Linda coaching Serena at Les Ormes. (Dave Ferguson)

"It's been a massive progression and a huge learning curve from the very start," Linda said. "We have gone from beginning to take girls away to getting to the dizzy heights of premier league with Team Jets."

The initial 10 has expanded to 55, with teams at different age groups.

She added: "We are also now able to give the girls as much as we can in a structured professional capacity when it comes to strength and conditioning, which is now held at Strive. It has all evolved. The journey has been amazing, and we've had some incredible highlights, as well as put Jersey on the map so that people know who we are and enjoying playing us."

Pictured: Linda coaching at the play-offs in 2015. (Rob Currie)

These highlights included heading to play-offs for the premier league, where the Jets gained promotion into England Netball's Premier League 3 in 2014, and then into Premier League 2 in 2015. "That was just so exciting," Linda said.

"At one of them, a fire alarm went off when there were four minutes left of the match, and everyone had to leave the building. It was mass exodus, and I was trying to keep the girls calm and focused for those final four minutes. When they came back, they absolutely smashed it."

The struggles of her time as coach of the Team Jets include that she does not like travelling: "I'm not very good on aeroplanes, so that was a bit of a problem. Other than that, funding has always been high on the agenda – you've never got enough of it. If we didn't have funding, we never would have been able to achieve what we would have achieved. The girls still pay toward every trip when they go away."

Pictured: Linda won Cenkos Coach of the Year at the Channel Islands Sports Awards in 2012. (Adrian Miller)

She also cited a fair number of player injuries in her time, including 7 ACLs.

"It has been a wonderful journey, and a great experience, and I have been so lucky with the girls I have worked with."

Team Jets said: "Linda is an inspiration and brought a whole new perspective to the game and we feel that as a club and as an island, her dedication and passion has been unmatched.

"She has taught the Jets players true sportsmanship, fairplay and perseverance."