Celebrated Sunshine Girls coach moves to UK
BIRMINGHAM, England — Former Sunshine Girls Head Coach, Connie Francis, will take her expertise to the United Kingdom having been named director of netball for the Birmingham Panthers.
Francis will lead the team through its very first season. The Panthers recently announced they were taking part in the 2025 Netball Super League, and were aiming to “elevate netball to unprecedented heights.”
“This partnership is aimed at setting new standards for competitive achievement and athletic growth, aligning with the Panthers’ mission to become a formidable force in the NSL and to truly represent the passion and diversity of Birmingham and the West Midlands,” the team said in a press release.
Francis will also be charged with increasing the visibility of the sport across the region.
Commenting on her appointment, Francis said “I am thrilled to be here in England and to join the Birmingham Panthers franchise at such an exciting moment in the league’s development. I look forward to embracing the challenges of this role and to collaborating closely with the athletes, stakeholders, and everyone involved.”
Francis, a former Sunshine Girl herself, led Jamaica’s national team on a successful run in her most recent stint as head coach where they copped third place at the 2023 Netball World Cup in Cape Town, South Africa, their first World Cup medal finish in 16 years.
Francis’ contract with the national team ended in 2023 and was not renewed. At the time she did not comment on her next moves, but Sunshine Girl Kadie-Ann Dehaney, in an interview with Jamaica Observer, speculated over Francis’ future,
“I don’t know; [maybe she will] coach another team but I don’t know what she will do in the future. But, I sense something — that she wants to do something different. Everybody wish[es] her all the best in that wherever she might go, or whatever [it is that she will go on] to, [she will] accomplish great things in whatever she’s going to do,” Dehaney said at the time.
Francis will lead the Panthers’ performance strategy alongside Head Coach, Jo Trip.
