Eboni delight at England call

Beckford-Chambers in action for England A

Also see

• Netball Fixtures
• Forum
• Photos

Eboni Beckford-Chambers has told skysports.com how proud she is to have made the England squad for the 2009 Co-operative International Netball Series against Jamaica.

The 21-year-old Team Bath GK/D earned her first England cap against Malawi at Wembley but believes this one will be even more special.

"It has been such a big achievement for me and my family," she stated. "I have been working to get a place in this team since I was a little girl.

"To make the squad when all the internationals are back - compared to the Malawi test when some of the players were still away in the ANZ - is fantastic.

"It's like all the hard work with my strength and conditioning coach has paid off. I'm just so excited"

England's two previous encounters with the 'Sunshine Girls' in the 2006 Commonwealth Games and in 2007 at the World Championships ended with the teams being separated by just one goal, so it should be a treat for anyone watching at the three-venue series which starts at the O2 arena on Feb 22nd.

The action then moves to the Sky Dome Arena, Coventry on the 24th, before the conclusion of the action at the Trent FM Arena in Nottingham on the 26th.

The highly-talented Romelda Aiken, who has been playing in the ANZ Championship, is the one to watch for the Jamaicans, and the shooter will provide a stern test for Eboni and the England defence.

Watching Eboni on court you can see the enjoyment and love she has for the sport and her passion for netball has led her to start up a campaign to have the sport accepted into the Olympics on social networking site Facebook and she has already attracted over 800,000 supporters to the cause.

"I'm not surprised but grateful because netball is a really cool sport for women, and loads of people play it," she continued.

"More and more people are joining the campaign so it shows real support. In my opinion it should be classed as an Olympic sport, so hopefully it will get there by 2016."

Eboni believes the future of netball is bright and feels the increased interest in the sport is due to Sky Sports' coverage this season.

"Sky has been absolutely vital with the number of people watching it and then coming to games," she added. "People are not seeing it as just a schoolgirls' game anymore and believe they could become semi-professional.

"The perception has obviously changed and we have Sky to thank for that."