ELLA Williams is looking forward to her dreams coming true this summer as she represents Team England at the Commonwealth Youth Games.

Having been part of the Roses Academy since 2021, Williams has long been living and breathing elite level netball.

Now as time ticks towards August and heading out to Trinidad and Tobago, she is ready herself to take on the world’s top young players.

“I actually can't wait for it; it’s been the real first big tournament that I’ve ever done for England," she said.

“We have a prep camp for it in a couple of weeks, I think that's going to make it so much more real.  

“At the moment it still doesn’t feel like it’s actually going to happen, because it’s kind of this dream that's just there really.  

“I can’t wait to go though, I think it’s going to be so fun, especially because it’s not in the UK: the whole experience of going abroad, especially with other sports, I think that will just make it so much better.”

Williams will follow in the footsteps of legends such as Olympic heptathlon champion Jessica Ennis-Hill and Dina Asher-Smith, the fastest British woman in history.  

The Youth Games have been running since 2000, with Commonwealth athletes aged 14-18 from across the world pitting themselves against each other in seven sports, including athletics, swimming, and cycling.    

For Williams this is the latest accolade in an extremely promising start to her career, after becoming a part of the Roses Academy unexpectedly after lockdown.

“I would say the biggest success for me, at the moment, is getting into England," she continued.

“I didn’t expect to get in; I just kind of went into the first trial, not really expecting much, because it was the first year back since we’d had covid.  

“So, I just went, I hadn’t played much netball, I just went for a bit of fun, and then I got the email saying that I got in, I was just so happy, I didn’t really know what I expected really.

“When I was younger I had always said I had always wanted to play for England, but I never actually thought that I would get to it.

“It was just kind of this dream that would never really happen, but I had always wanted to do it.  

“So, as I got older I started thinking more realistically, so I was thinking ‘right maybe super league is the dream, instead of England’ but when it came true, just getting into the academy, it was amazing.”

Follow Team England’s performances at Trinbago 2023 at www.teamengland.org #BringItHome