Chelsea Pitman (born 8 June 1988) is an Australian-born netball player representing the England National Netball Team internationally. She is currently contracted as a training partner for the West Coast Fever playing in the

Suncorp Super Netball Suncorp Super Netball is the top level netball league featuring teams from Australia. In 2017 it replaced the ANZ Championship, which also included teams from New Zealand, as the top level netball league in Australia. Since 2019, the league has ...

competition in Australia. West Coast Fever has just became premiers after winning the Suncorp Super Netball League 2022 (first time in 25 years). She is predominantly a wing attack, but can also play goal attack.

Domestic career

Pitman's career began in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, representing the state at underage national championships before moving to the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra where she was noticed by national head coach

Norma Plummer Norma Margaret Plummer AM (born 24 November 1944) is a former Australian national player who also served as netball coach for both Australia and South Africa. She was coach of Australia from 2003 to 2011, ending her coaching career with the D ...

. In 2010, she was signed by

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

ANZ Championship The ANZ Championship, also known as the Trans-Tasman Netball League, is a former netball league featuring teams from both Australia and New Zealand. Between 2008 and 2016, it was the top-level league in both countries. The competition was owned ...

franchise the

Canterbury Tactix Mainland Tactix are a New Zealand netball team based in Christchurch, Canterbury. Between 1998 and 2007, as Canterbury Flames, they played in the Coca-Cola Cup/National Bank Cup league. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championsh ...

. However, in round 6 against the

Northern Mystics Northern Mystics are a New Zealand netball team based in Auckland. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. Since 2017 they have represented Netball Northern in the ANZ Premiership. Netball Northern is the governing body t ...

, she suffered an ACL injury that ended her season. After a successful ACL rehabilitation, she joined the

Queensland Firebirds Queensland Firebirds are an Australian netball team based in Brisbane, Queensland. Since 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship and between 1997 and 2007, they played in the ...

in 2011. Significant improvement throughout the season resulted in Pitman becoming the starting wing attack and helping the Firebirds win the

in an undefeated season. Her breakthrough season was capped off with selection in the

Australian Netball Diamonds The Australia national netball team, also known as the Australian Diamonds, represent Netball Australia in international netball tournaments such as the INF Netball World Cup, the Commonwealth Games, the Constellation Cup, the Netball Quad S ...

team for the

2011 World Netball Championships The 2011 World Netball Championships was the 13th edition of the INF Netball World Cup, a quadrennial premier event in international netball. It was held in Singapore from 3–10 July. All 48 matches were played at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. Sin ...

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

, where Australia retained the title. In 2013, Pitman was part of the Firebirds team who made it to the

Grand Final for the second time in 3 years where they were defeated by the

Adelaide Thunderbirds Adelaide Thunderbirds are an Australian netball team based in Adelaide, South Australia. Since 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship and between 1997 and 2007, they pla ...

50-48. At the conclusion of the season, she and Firebirds teammate Natalie Medhurst, announced that they had signed with the

West Coast Fever West Coast Fever is an Australian netball team based in Perth, Western Australia. Since 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they competed in the ANZ Championship. Between 1997 and 2007, as Perth Orioles, t ...

for the 2014 season. Towards the end of the 2014, Pitman announced that she would take the following season (2015) off from the ANZ Championship to consider her netball future. In July 2014, she signed a one-year contract with

Netball Superleague The Netball Super League is a top level netball league featuring teams from the United Kingdom. The league is organised by England Netball but features teams based in England, Wales and Scotland. The league was commenced playing at the 2005–0 ...

side

Manchester Thunder Manchester Thunder are an English netball team based in Manchester. Their senior team plays in the Netball Superleague. In 2005–06, Thunder were founding members of the league. They were Superleague champions in 2012, 2014, 2019 and 2022. ...

for the 2015 season in England. For the 2016 season, she returned to play in the

, signing for New Zealand side

Central Pulse Central Pulse are a New Zealand netball team based in Wellington. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. Since 2017 they have represented Netball Central in the ANZ Premiership. Netball Central is the governing body that r ...

. After the dissolution of the

in July 2016, Pitman signed with the

for the 2017

season. Pitman starred for the Thunderbirds during their 2017 campaign and was ultimately named the 2017 Club Champion after a highly successful season. Pitman was a co-captain of the Thunderbirds in 2019 and 2020, sharing the role initially with English international teammate

Layla Guscoth Layla Guscoth (born 2 March 1992) is an England netball international. She was a member of the England squad that won a bronze medal at the 2019 Netball World Cup. At club level, Guscoth has played for Loughborough Lightning, Hertfordshire Ma ...

and later sharing it with Australian team-mate

Hannah Petty Hannah Petty (born 17 May 1997) is an Australian netball player in the Suncorp Super Netball league, playing for the Adelaide Thunderbirds. Petty began playing for the Thunderbirds in 2016 and has played for the South Australian-based team ever ...

. After the 2020

Season, Pitman was not offered a new contract by the

. This resulted in her playing the 2021 season in Netball South Australia's Premier League competition for the Garville Netball Club. After concluding her season playing for Garville Netball Club, Pitman returns to the West Coast Fever again, accepting a training partner position for the 2022

Season.

International career

Pitman made her international debut against the

Silver Ferns The New Zealand national netball team, commonly known as the Silver Ferns, represent New Zealand in international netball. The team take their nickname from the Silver Tree Fern ('' Cyathea dealbata''), which is an emblem for many New Zealand ...

during a series of international matches prior to the

. During the world championships, she featured regularly at wing attack in her first major international tournament. In the gold medal match against New Zealand, she was brought onto wing attack at half time when the Diamonds were six goals down and helped the Diamonds draw level at the end of regulation time to send the game into extra time. The Diamonds went onto win the match 58-57 and claim the world championship with Pitman playing a major role in the Diamond's comeback. She represented the

throughout 2012 during the Quad Series against South Africa, New Zealand and England. However, she was unable to make a return to the national squad after this series. In 2017 Pitman was selected into the England National Netball Team through her Yorkshire-born father. She later made her international debut for England against South Africa in the 2017 January Quad Series, and helped them claim two historic wins over the New Zealand Silver Ferns in 2017. She was part of the England team which won the Gold Medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, defeating Australia in the final which was an historic moment for netball in England. In 2019, Pitman was selected in the England National Netball Team for the

2019 Netball World Cup The 2019 Netball World Cup (also known as the 2019 Vitality Netball World Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 15th edition of the INF Netball World Cup. It was held from 12–21 July 2019 at the Liverpool Arena in Liverpool, England with match ...

where the team won the Bronze Medal.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pitman, Chelsea 1988 births Living people English netball players Australian netball players Australia international netball players Australian Institute of Sport netball players Mainland Tactix players Queensland Firebirds players West Coast Fever players Manchester Thunder players ANZ Championship players Australian Netball League players Suncorp Super Netball players Netball Superleague players Netball players at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games medallists in netball 2019 Netball World Cup players Netball players from Sydney Sydney Swifts players Adelaide Thunderbirds players Australian expatriate netball people in New Zealand English expatriate netball people in New Zealand 2011 World Netball Championships players Central Pulse players Australian expatriate netball people in England