The South African goal attack is joining London Pulse for the 2021 Vitality Netball Superleague season. It will be her first season in the competition and she'll be linking up with Sigi Burger in Pulse's shooting circle.
Tuesday 29 December 2020 11:17, UK
Lefebre Rademan discusses her move to the Vitality Netball Superleague and why London Pulse is the right franchise for her.
When she made a name for herself among fans of England's Vitality Roses, during the Roses' series in Cape Town at the end of 2019, Rademan's work on a netball court had already been heralded by many in South Africa.
Ahead of the signings for the 2021 season being revealed, Tamsin Greenway had highlighted the goal attack as someone who could benefit greatly from time in the Vitality Netball Superleague.
"Lefebre Rademan is one of the first names that spring to mind," the Scotland head coach and Sky Sports expert said, in September.
"She's been impressive at goal attack for South Africa and has grown in confidence every time she stepped on the court for them.
"She's the old-school type of goal attack that teams are crying out for; a short, sharp and nippy one who runs the front, cuts and drives into the circle and puts up the shot."
When the signing window opened and teams' rosters were revealed, it was clear that Samantha Bird, CEO and director of netball at London Pulse, also liked what she saw from Rademan.
With Kira Rothwell already developing within Pulse's squad and Chiara Semple departing for New Zealand, Bird set about bringing 23-year-old to the Vitality Netball Superleague.
"The culture that Sam has developed in the team is one that I want to be a part of," Rademan said about her new director of netball. "She's very professional and I think she'll really help me with my shooting abilities and to learn new things.
"Something that really attracted me to Pulse was Sam saying that every player is important to her and that no one is better than anyone else. I really like that as an attitude and a philosophy that everyone is the same and everyone gets the same attention."
A manifestation of that attitude was that London Pulse announced their 2021 squad as a complete unit on October 23.
From returnees like Adean Thomas and Lindsay Keable, to new faces like Rademan, every athlete had a chance to share their thoughts during the live stream on their YouTube page.
Overall, Pulse's squad for the 2021 season will continue to be a youthful one, but crucially it has the right amount of experienced leaders to go with these dynamic players. Rademan is eager to get started and connect with her fellow South African shooter, Burger, on a daily basis.
"It's an exciting team and there's just so much to look forward to," Rademan said.
"I know Sigi from school, we've been in the same provisional team and also from the Proteas in South Africa. She has great energy, she's always so helpful and I'm really looking forward to seeing what we can do.
"We have a great shooting connection with the Proteas squad as well. Maybe, that can help and make us be a little bit more intimidating to other teams because we'll be playing together every week."
The South Africa international isn't the only overseas player who will be joining the Vitality Netball Superleague in 2021. There's a wealth of exciting athletes who have chosen England's elite league as their home and many of them are shooters.
Donnell Wallam is eager to take the opportunity handed to her by Dan Ryan at Leeds Rhinos Netball, Ine-Mari Venter has a point to prove at Saracens Mavericks and Gezelle Allison will be joining Wasps Netball's shooting circle.
With the quality of players across the board, the Vitality Netball Superleague will provide all of these athletes (Rademan included) the chance to take their careers to a new level.
Having the ability to play top-flight netball week in and week out will improve all aspects of their games on court, and with the season set to be played in the midst of the global pandemic, all will become even more resilient and adaptable as a result of their time in England.
Netball returns to Sky Sports with the four-Test Vitality Netball Legends Series between England and Jamaica. The first Test will be live on Sky Sports and streamed on the Sky Sports YouTube channel on January 22.
