Geva Kate Mentor

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations, and public service outside the civil service. It was established o ...

(born 17 September 1984) is an England netball international. She has competed in 6 Commonwealth Games: and in the

Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, was an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England bet ...

she was honoured to read, during the Opening Ceremony, The Athletes Oath on behalf of all the competing athletes. She was a member of the England team that won the gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. She was also a member of the England teams that won the bronze medal at the

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro 2006 Montenegrin independence referendum, votes to declare ...

and

2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games (Hindi: 2010 राष्ट्रमण्डल खेल), officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, was an international multi-sport event that was held in Delhi, India, f ...

and at the

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

2015 File:2015 Events Collage new.png, From top left, clockwise: Civil service in remembrance of November 2015 Paris attacks; Germanwings Flight 9525 was purposely crashed into the French Alps; the rubble of residences in Kathmandu following the Apri ...

and

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 matche ...

s. She captained England at the 2015 Netball World Cup. In

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

she was appointed a Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for her services to

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a court by two teams of seven players. It is among a rare number of sports which have been created exclusively for female competitors. The sport is played on indoor and outdoor netball courts and is specifical ...

. Mentor was a member of the

Team Bath TeamBath is the University of Bath's sporting organisation. In addition to entering teams in BUCS intervarsity competitions, TeamBath has also entered teams in national leagues and competitions. Team Bath F.C. reached the first round proper of t ...

teams that won the 2005–06 and 2006–07 Netball Superleague titles. In

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

she began playing in the

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 ...

, winning premierships with the 2010 Adelaide Thunderbirds and the 2014 Melbourne Vixens. She captained the Sunshine Coast Lightning teams that won the

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

and 2018 Suncorp Super Netball titles. Since

, Mentor has captained

Collingwood Magpies The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or colloquially the Pies, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. The club w ...

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 ...

Early life, family and education

Mentor was born and raised in

Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the Southern ...

. She is daughter of Greg and Yvonne Mentor and she has a brother, Raoul. Her mother's family lived in the

Dorset Dorset ( ; archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a county in South West England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the unitary authority areas of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole and Dorset (unitary authority), Dors ...

area for five generations. Her father was originally from

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Amerindian ...

. She grew up in

Boscombe Boscombe is a suburb of Bournemouth, England. Historically in Hampshire, but today in Dorset, it is located to the east of Bournemouth town centre and west of Southbourne. Originally a sparsely inhabited area of heathland, from around 1865 B ...

and attended St Peter's Catholic School. She studied for her

A-Level The A-Level (Advanced Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education, as well as a school leaving qualification offered by the educational bodies in the United Kingdom and the educational aut ...

s at the

University of Bath (Virgil, Georgics II) , mottoeng = Learn the culture proper to each after its kind , established = 1886 (Merchant Venturers Technical College) 1960 (Bristol College of Science and Technology) 1966 (Bath University of Technology) 1971 (univ ...

's Centre of Excellence. Since 2016, Mentor has studied for a Bachelor for Education with the

Swinburne University of Technology Swinburne University of Technology (often simply called Swinburne) is a public research university based in Melbourne, Australia. It was founded in 1908 as the Eastern Suburbs Technical College by George Swinburne to serve those without access ...

Playing career

Team Bath

Between 2001 and 2007, Mentor played for

, initially in the Super Cup and later in the

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 2005–06 ...

. In 2004 she was a member of the Team Bath squad that won the Super Cup. In 2005–06, she was a member of Team Bath team that won the inaugural Netball Superleague title. Mentor was Player of the Match in the

Grand Final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...

when Team Bath retained the title in 2006–07.

Adelaide Thunderbirds

, Mentor was one of several England internationals to join the

. Mentor signed for

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 ...

. In

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, she was a member of the Thunderbirds team that won the premiership. She finished the

season as

ANZ Championship Grand Final MVP The following is a list of netball players who played in the ANZ Championship between 2008 and 2016. ANZ Championship award winners There were four official ANZ Championship Awards. ANZ Championship Most Valuable Player ;Notes * Romelda Aike ...

Surrey Storm

Mentor played with

Surrey Storm Surrey Storm is an English netball team based at the University of Surrey. Their senior team plays in the Netball Superleague. Between 2001 and 2005 they played in the Super Cup as London Hurricanes. After forming a partnership with Brunel U ...

during the

2009–10 Netball Superleague season The 2009–10 Netball Superleague (known for sponsorship reasons as the Co-operative Netball Superleague) was the fifth season of the Netball Superleague. The league was won by Team Bath. Surrey Storm finished top of the table after the regular ...

. In September 2009 herself and

Sonia Mkoloma Sonia Mkoloma (born 17 January 1979) is a former English international netball player. Mkoloma made her international debut for the English national team in 1999, and during her career has competed at three Netball World Championships, three Co ...

became the first two players to sign for the rebranded franchise. In March 2010, both Mentor and Mkoloma left Surrey Storm to return to the

Melbourne Vixens

Between

and

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

, Mentor played for

Melbourne Vixens Melbourne Vixens is an Australian netball team based in Melbourne, Victoria. Since 2017 they have represented Netball Victoria in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. The team was formed in 2007 ...

in the

. In

2012 File:2012 Events Collage V3.png, From left, clockwise: The passenger cruise ship Costa Concordia lies capsized after the Costa Concordia disaster; Damage to Casino Pier in Seaside Heights, New Jersey as a result of Hurricane Sandy; People gather ...

she was a member of the Vixens team that were both minor premiers and grand finalists. She was subsequently included in the 2012 ANZ Championship All Star team and was named Vixens' Best and Fairest. In

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, Mentor was again included in the All Star team. In

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wat ...

, Mentor made her 100th ANZ Championship appearance in

Round 13 ''Round 13'' is the thirteenth studio album by the Swiss hard rock band Krokus, and the only album to feature Welsh vocalist Carl Sentance, formerly of Persian Risk and the Geezer Butler Band. It includes a cover of "Heya" by J. J. Light (a ...

against

. Mentor became the first import player to reach 100 games. She subsequently helped Vixens win the 2014 ANZ Championship and was named in a third successive All Star team. In 2014 when the Vixens' Best and Fairest award was renamed the Sharelle McMahon Medal, Mentor became the inaugural winner. In

she shared the award with

Karyn Bailey Karyn Bailey (born 28 July 1986) is a former Australian netball player who played for the Melbourne Vixens, Adelaide Thunderbirds. and played for the Surrey Storm ( UK) from 2018 - 2021. After Storm's final game on Monday 21st June 2021, she r ...

Sunshine Coast Lightning

In 2016 it was announced that Mentor had signed for Sunshine Coast Lightning in

. In February 2017, she was named captain of the new franchise. She subsequently captained the Lighting teams that won the

and 2018 Suncorp Super Netball titles. Mentor was named the 2017 Suncorp Super Netball Player of the Year. In 2017 and 2018, she was also named as the goalkeeper in the Suncorp Super Netball Team of the Year. Mentor made her 150th

/Suncorp Super Netball appearance in the 2018 Round 5 match against

. ;Lightning statistics , - style="background-color: #eaeaea" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

, style="text-align:center;",

Lightning Lightning is a naturally occurring electrostatic discharge during which two electric charge, electrically charged regions, both in the atmosphere or with one on the land, ground, temporarily neutralize themselves, causing the instantaneous ...

, 0/0 , , 0 , , 42 , , 0 , , 0 , , 42 , , 97 , , 209 , , 4 , , 16 , - style="background-color: #eaeaea" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center" ,

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

, style="text-align:center;",

, 0/0 , , 0 , , 28 , , 0 , , 0 , , 30 , , 121 , , 274 , , 8 , , 16 , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=2, Career ! 0/0 ! 0 ! 70 ! 0 ! 0 ! 72 ! 218 ! 483 ! 12 ! 32

Collingwood Magpies

Since

, Mentor has played for

. She was named Magpies co-captain ahead of the 2019 season, alongside

Madi Robinson Madison “Madi” Browne (born 5 January 1988) is an Australian netball player who has been one of the most successful Australian Netball players to play in the British Netball Superleague for Leeds Rhinos Netball. Early life Madison Browne pl ...

. In both 2019 and

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

, Mentor was awarded the Magpies' best and fairest award. In

, Mentor was named as the goalkeeper in the Suncorp Super Netball Team of the Year for a third time. Mentor made her 200th

/Suncorp Super Netball appearance in the 2021 Round 10 match against

Giants Netball Giants Netball (stylised as GIANTS Netball) are an Australian netball team based in Greater Western Sydney, New South Wales. Since 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. The team was formed in 2016 as a joint venture between Netball N ...

. ;Magpies statistics , - style="background-color: #eaeaea" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center",

, style="text-align:center;",

Magpies Magpies are birds of the Corvidae family. Like other members of their family, they are widely considered to be intelligent creatures. The Eurasian magpie, for instance, is thought to rank among the world's most intelligent creatures, and is one ...

, 0/0 , , 0 , , 33 , , 0 , , 0 , , 40 , , 85 , , 217 , , 8 , , 15 , - style="background-color: #eaeaea" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center",

, style="text-align:center;", 2020 Magpies , 0/0 , , 0 , , 25, , 0 , , 0 , , 27, , 103, , 182, , 11, , 14 , - style="background-color: #eaeaea" ! scope="row" style="text-align:center",

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

, style="text-align:center;", 2021 Magpies , 0/0 , , 0 , , , , 0 , , 0, , , , , , , , , , , - class="sortbottom" ! colspan=2, Career ! 0/0 ! 0 ! ! 0 ! 0 ! ! ! ! !

England

Mentor was first selected for the senior

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

squad in November 2000 when she was aged 15. She was initially spotted by

Lyn Gunson Lyn Gunson (born 31 December 1953), also known as Lyn Parker, is a former New Zealand netball international and a former head coach of both the New Zealand and England national netball teams. She captained New Zealand when they won the 1985 W ...

and her ability was recognised by England coaches, Julie Hoornweg and Wai Taumaunu. She made her senior debut on 11 July 2001, aged 16, against

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 ...

. On her debut she marked

Irene van Dyk Irene van Dyk (née Viljoen; born 21 June 1972) is a South African-born New Zealand netball player. A goal-shooter, van Dyk is one of the world's best-known netballers and is the most capped international player of all time: in every game she ...

. In

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

, Mentor featured at her first

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games, often referred to as the Friendly Games or simply the Comm Games, are a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930, and, with the exce ...

and in

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A des ...

she played at her first Netball World Cup. She was subsequently a member of the England teams that won the bronze medals at the

and

and at the

and

s. She captained England at the 2015 Netball World Cup. Mentor was a prominent member of the England team that won the gold medal at the 2018 Commonwealth Games. In

she was awarded the for her services to netball. In Sept 2022 Geva was conferred an Honorary Doctorate in Sport by The Chancellor of Chichester University. Also in Nov 2022 Geva was conferred her second Honorary Doctorate in Arts by The Chancellor of Bournemouth University, her home. In Nov 2022 she officially opened The Geva Mentor Fitness Park, 'a free for all area' on the beachfront of Bournemouth.

Personal life

In 2012 Mentor began a relationship with Lachlan Crawford, a teacher at

Camberwell Grammar School , motto_translation = By our deeds may we be known , established = , type = Independent, single sex, Anglican primary and secondary day school , denomination = Anglican , slogan ...

. The couple were married in December 2015. However the relationship subsequently broke down and in 2018 they divorced. In 2019, Mentor had a relationship with

Mason Cox Mason Cox (born March 14, 1991) is an American-Australian professional Australian rules footballer who plays for the Collingwood Football Club in the Australian Football League (AFL). Playing as a ruckman and key forward, he first played Austr ...

, the

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an oval field, often a modified cricket ground. Points are scored by k ...

er who plays for the

Collingwood Football Club The Collingwood Football Club, nicknamed the Magpies or colloquially the Pies, is a professional Australian rules football club based in Melbourne that competes in the Australian Football League (AFL), the sport's elite competition. The club w ...

. Since 2015, Mentor has been a dual

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Australian citizen Australian nationality law details the conditions in which a person holds Australian legal nationality. The primary law governing nationality regulations is the Australian Citizenship Act 2007, which came into force on 1 July 2007 and is applic ...

. In 2019 Mentor released an autobiography, ''Leap: Making the jump to take netball to the top of the world''.

Honours

;

**''Winners'':

Fast5 Netball World Series The Fast5 Netball World Series is an international Fast5 netball competition that was contested for the first time in October 2009. The new competition features modified Fast5 rules, and has been likened to Twenty20 cricket and rugby sevens. The ...

**''Winners'':

Netball Quad Series The Netball Quad Series is an annual international netball series contested by the national teams of Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa. Background In December 2015, the governing bodies of netball in Australia, New Zealand, E ...

**''Runners Up'': 2018 (Sep),

; Sunshine Coast Lightning *

**''Winners'':

;

**''Winners'':

**''Runners Up'':

;

**''Winners'':

;

**''Winners'': 2005–06, 2006–07 * Super Cup **''Winners'': 2004 ;Individual Awards

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Mentor, Geva 1984 births Living people English netball players Commanders of the Order of the British Empire Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games medallists in netball Netball players at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Netball players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Netball players at the 2010 Commonwealth Games Netball players at the 2018 Commonwealth Games 2019 Netball World Cup players Team Bath netball players Surrey Storm players Sunshine Coast Lightning players Melbourne Vixens players Adelaide Thunderbirds players Collingwood Magpies Netball players ANZ Championship players Suncorp Super Netball players AENA Super Cup players Netball Superleague players English expatriate netball people in Australia English emigrants to Australia Black British sportswomen English people of Saint Lucian descent Sportspeople from Bournemouth People educated at St Peter's Catholic School, Bournemouth 2011 World Netball Championships players 2015 Netball World Cup players Netball players at the 2022 Commonwealth Games