Friday 8 April 2016 12:33, UK
England netballlers will turn full-time at the beginning of June as part of their quest to reach the 2019 World Cup final.
The decision follows an England Netball board meeting at the end of last month and comes into effect on June 1.
The England Roses will have their first training session as fully-fledged professionals on June 13 in Loughborough.
England Netball CEO Joanna Adams says the landmark decision has been taken in the hope that England can close the gap on southern hemisphere powerhouses Australia and New Zealand.
"It's important to make these decisions in order to accelerate the development of the England Roses' success and get even closer to the top two teams in the world," Adams said.
"Once again we'd like to extend huge thanks to Sport England for their continued support of our athletes, without which they wouldn't be able to perform at the level they do."
The news was also welcomed by Manchester Thunder head coach Dan Ryan, who was working as a pundit for Sky Sports during Monday night's 54-34 win for Hertfordshire Mavericks against the Yorkshire Jets.
"I think it's a great step forward for the sport in this country," he said.
"Obviously coming from Australia I've seen how the programmes are put in place and how athletes are living the life as professional netballers over there and the same thing in New Zealand.
"I've always been a big believer that for England to go world number one they have to replicate what the top two countries in the world are doing. To have full-time professional athletes here in England, I think is that first major step to bridging that gap between the top three countries."
Team Bath Director of Netball, Jess Thirlby, added: "Moving forward, it's great we are following in the footsteps of women's football and creating that opportunity now for athletes to choose it as a career and embark on that for as long as they can."
A complete list of players going full-time will be announced at a later date following the completion of a selection process.
