22-year old Ellie Rattu, already an England youth player and a star of London Pulse franchise, has been granted her first full international call up for a three-match series against Uganda in October.
Rattu is already an England international at youth level, having played for the Under-17’s, Under-19’s and the Roses but is now in line to make her full debut against the world’s seventh ranked side.
The three match series takes place at Nottingham’s Motorpoint Arena and London’s Copper Box Arena, a location familiar with Rattu, where she plays franchise netball for London Pulse.
“Don’t you find out now?”
Most players are on edge finding out if they’ve made the cut for their first international call up, but the atmosphere in the Rattu household seemed fairly relaxed on finding out the news.
“I think I was in bed and my Mum came in and said, ‘Oh, don’t you find out now?’ And I was like, ‘No, Mum, not yet.’
“And then I checked my phone, and it was there. So I had to go back downstairs and say that I had found out.”
Ellie is no stranger to the big occasion; she has competed in the sport’s first ever franchise league with London Pulse, making 38 appearances for the Pulse since their inception in 2019.
Despite the meteoric rise to success, Ellie is under no illusions to the tough nature of the challenge in front of her, accepting she will have to be patient for her chances.
“I think being on tours from Under-17 and Under-19’s with England and the Roses Academy definitely prepares you for understanding what it’s like to be away from home for that period of time and being in camp for a long period of time. All you are doing is netball,” she explained.
“So I think that’s been really, really beneficial. But I think it’s always going to be a shock going up to international standard.
“It’s not like playing your age group, it’s the top dogs, it’s the best in the world.
“It’s definitely going to be a shock to the system, but hopefully one that I can manage.”
Coverage on Sky Sports
The three-match series is due to be covered by Sky Sports from 5th to 9th October, with Rattu hopeful of making an appearance.
Her game has improved under the tutelage of London Pulse Performance Director, Lisa Alexander, hugely experienced in the netball world after nine years as head coach of the Australian Diamonds.
“She just is very good at talking about the little one percenters,” said Rattu of Alexander.
“You know that it’s not just on court, it’s everything that builds up around that.
“So it’s how you prepare, your sleep, your mindset and everything else. So I think it’s learning those sorts of things off the court and how they will then translate on court as well.
“But equally all the technical work that we’ve done with Pulse in the past couple of years, those connections, a lot of the girls from Pulse are playing this series, so having connections should prove helpful on court.”
Whatever transpires for Ellie in October, her rise through the ranks are sure to see her don the England jersey at some point in the future, however, all in Bedford will be keeping their fingers crossed for October.
England have already beaten Uganda this year; securing a semi-final spot in the Commonwealth Games with a 56-35 win against the African side before losing to Australia in the last four.
Tickets to see the Vitality Roses in action against Uganda are still available from the England Netball website.
