A YOUNG netball star from Bury has relived memories of watching England strike gold four years ago as the Commonwealth Games approach. 

There are now less than 100 days to go until the Commonwealth Games comes to Birmingham this summer and Ellie Heyes, 19, believes her country can repeat their success from 2018.

Ellie watched as England claimed gold in netball at the last games and has trained with some members of the winning squad since.

Rising Manchester Thunder star Ellie has fond memories of waking up in the early hours of the morning to watch the Red Roses’ last-gasp victory over hosts Australia and its significant impact up and down the country.

Ellie said: “I remember me and my dad waking up at 5am to watch it.

"The last quarter we were both sitting on the edge of our seats just cheering at the TV.

“I think it allowed a lot of others interested in sports to realise how good netball is.

"It was all over the news, a lot of famous people tweeted about it.

"People seeing that opened up a new door for netball and a lot more people got involved after the last Commonwealth Games.

“At the time I was quite young and still going through all the pathways. Now I sometimes train alongside some of the England players.

“I was thinking at that point that I would love to play or train alongside them.

"To see it first-hand that it can happen, it allows people to look up to and actually have these girls as role models.”

England are among the favourites to achieve gold again at the games this summer, ranking third in the world.

However, Australia are currently the world number ones and will be vying for gold after a disappointing loss in the Gold Coast four years ago.

New Zealand are currently ranked second and are the reigning world champions.

Ellie is confident England can win in front of a home crowd though.

She added: “I definitely think they can win again.

"They’ve been working hard, and I think this season we’ve seen a lot of the England girls playing well in the Super League.

"It definitely won’t be easy, but I do think they have a very strong chance of defending their title.

“I have tickets to go and watch - I will be watching.

"I won’t be at all the games, so I’ll definitely be watching on TV as well.

“I think it’s one of the best things for netball as it is growing.

"I see so many more kids getting involved.

"Having it at home in England, it allows everyone to go and watch and makes it accessible for everyone. Let’s just hope we win!”

Entain, owner of Ladbrokes and Coral, is proud to be championing the next generation of British sporting heroes by providing talented young athletes with financial support and personal development opportunities in partnership with SportsAid. Visit entaingroup.com to find out more.