Ex-England netball captain aims for Jersey promotion
· Yahoo Sports
Having won Commonwealth Games gold, Serena Kersten knows a thing or two about success.
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Now the former England netball captain is hoping to guide Jersey's Team Jets to a return to the second tier of English club netball after a nine-year absence.
Jets are third in Premier League Three, two points off leaders Ryland and second-placed Exeter with four games to go.
"It's really exciting for me," Kersten told BBC Radio Jersey.
"It's something that I wanted for the club when I stepped into the role, but it's always nice having a vision and a dream and actually now we're living it."
Kersten has been in charge of Team Jets since 2023, guiding them back to Premier League Three from the regional leagues last year.
Now the islanders are on the cusp of a second successive promotion and a return to Premier League Two - a first promotion to that level since 2015 when they had a two-year spell in the league.
"I always knew we were capable of being competitive," she says.
"The club went through a huge transition when I first came into the role - we had some players leaving, pregnancies, so a bit of a changing of the guard in terms of new players having to step into some roles more consistently.
"So it was always going to take some time for us to be ready to compete at this level and it's just nice to see a plan come together and the girls back it and the coaches back it."
Having been promoted back to Premier League Three, Team Jets have started playing home games in the island again, using the new facilities at Oakfield.
"We want[ed] to get netball back on home soil and home games back on Jersey soil," Kersten added.
"It's been a big part of my mission to be able to do that and get high quality netball back here because the crowds have shown this season, they've absolutely loved it - we've had some brilliant atmospheres up here up at Oakfield Arena."
Serena Kersten was a fixture in the England netball team for well over a decade [Getty Images]Kersten was part of the England side that won their first Commonwealth Games netball gold medal, when they beat hosts Australia on the Gold Coast in 2018.
She retired almost four years ago after having her first child and moved back to her home island of Jersey, taking on the role as head coach of Team Jets.
Kersten won two World Championship bronze medals while her club career involved playing professionally in England, Australia and New Zealand, as well as being awarded an MBE.
But despite her experience, the 36-year-old is refraining from stepping back on to the court on a regular basis after being called on during a selection crisis earlier this season.
"We had a few injuries and absences early on in the season, so I said to the girls 'if you need me I'm always here to step in', to the detriment of my own body," she said.
"If anyone could see me walking around my house the next day that would have been enough.
"My body's been there, seen it all and does not want me back so I'll be on the bench for the rest of the year."