Sara Francis-Bayman (née Bayman, born 23 December 1984) is an English former netball player and coach from Billinge near Wigan, England.[2] She is currently an Assistant Coach for the West Coast Fever in the Suncorp Super Netball.
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Born |
Sara Bayman 23 December 1984 Wigan, England | ||
| Height | 181 cm (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in) | ||
| School | Winstanley College[1] | ||
| University | University of Bath | ||
| Netball career | |||
| Playing position(s): C, WD | |||
| Years | Club team(s) | Apps | |
| 2004, 2006–2009 | Team Bath | ||
| ?–2016 | Manchester Thunder | ||
| 2016–2017 | Central Pulse | ||
| 2017 | UWS Sirens | ||
| Years | National team(s) | Caps | |
| ?–? |
 England | 84 | |
| Coaching career | |||
| Years | Team(s) | ||
| 2018–2021 | Loughborough Lightning | ||
| 2023-present | West Coast Fever (Asst.) | ||
Medal record | |||
Playing Career
editAt a club level, Bayman started her career at Team Bath[3] and has represented Manchester Thunder and UWS Sirens in the Netball Superleague, and Central Pulse in the ANZ Premiership.[2][4][5] Francis-Bayman won the Netball Superleague four times as a player. [6][3] and was captain of Manchester Thunder.[7]
Bayman represented England in their Bronze medal winning 2010 Commonwealth Games campaign but ruptured her knee ahead of the 2011 World Cup.[3] She was part of the 2014 Commonwealth Games squad which failed to medal in Glasgow[7] but went on to be part of the Bronze Medal winning team at the 2015 World Cup.[8]
Coaching Career
editFrancis-Bayman was Head Coach at Loughborough Lightning from 2018, winning Superleague Coach of the Year in her first year.[6][9] She led the team to a semi-final finish in 2019 and a Superleague title in 2021.[10]
She was assistant coach for Scotland under former England teammate Tamsin Greenway including the Thistles’ 2022 Commonwealth Games campaign in Birmingham.[6]
Following Lightning's Grand Final win in 2021, she took a leave of absence to spend time with her wife in Australia.[11] She was subsequently appointed as an Assistant Coach to the Queensland Firebirds in 2023 before being dropped days before the season opener.[12] After time as an Assistant Talent Coach for Western Australia, she was appointed Assistant Coach at the West Coast Fever for the 2024 season.[13]
Personal Life
editOn 24 December 2018, Sara proposed to her long term partner and ex-England Roses team mate Stacey Francis.[14] The couple met during their playing days and married in 2020.[15]
Francis-Bayman is also known for commentating the England Roses historic 2018 Commonwealth Games Gold Medal match on the BBC, alongside Caroline Barker. [16] She was host of the Netball Nation podcast from 2019 to 2020.[17]
References
edit- ^ "Sara Bayman". winstanley.ac.uk. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
- ^ a b "Previous Netball Superleague squads". teambath.com. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
- ^ a b c Sinclair, Jenny (21 December 2021). "NS EXCLUSIVE: Sara Francis-Bayman – Talkin' Bout a Revolution". Netball Scoop. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
- ^ "Sara Bayman among a host of new recruits for Vitality Superleague team UWS SIrens". Sky Sports. 3 November 2017. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
- ^ "Sara Bayman and Helen Housby pleased to be back with Manchester Thunder". Sky Sports. 23 September 2017. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
- ^ a b c "Firebirds add ex-English international to coaching staff". The Home of the Queensland Firebirds. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
- ^ a b Evans, Denise (17 April 2015). ".@runlikeforrest: @ThunderNetball can perform under pressure at the @mcrarena". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
- ^ Thunder, Manchester (26 June 2015). "Thunder players selected for Netball World Cup in Sydney - Manchester Thunder". Retrieved 20 July 2024.
- ^ Evans, Denise (12 July 2018). "Netball Superleague: Loughborough Lightning name Sara Bayman as head coach". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
- ^ "Netball Superleague 2021: Loughborough Lightning beat Team Bath in final". BBC Sport. 27 June 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
- ^ SkySports (11 October 2022). "Sara Francis-Bayman joins Queensland Firebirds as assistant coach". Sky Sports. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
- ^ "Firebirds part ways with Francis-Bayman". The Home of the Queensland Firebirds. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
- ^ "Fever strengthens coaching team with Francis-Bayman". West Coast Fever. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
- ^ Francis, Stacey [@StcyJyneFrancis] (24 December 2018). "She decided to pick her own birthday present this year...!!!!" (Tweet). Retrieved 10 January 2019 – via Twitter.
- ^ Ratcliffe, Katherine (21 June 2023). "Pride Month 2023: How the Francis-Baymans took different paths to embracing LGBTQ+ visibility". England Netball. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
- ^ Wrack, Suzanne (19 May 2019). "Sara Bayman: 'England's gold will be seen as the pivotal moment for netball'". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
- ^ "Netball Nation on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. 27 August 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2024.