Karen Helen Atkinson (

née A birth name is the name of a person given upon birth. The term may be applied to the surname, the given name, or the entire name. Where births are required to be officially registered, the entire name entered onto a birth certificate or birth re ...

Aspinall; born 7 June 1978) is an English

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 ...

coach and former international netball player. Atkinson first represented England in netball in 1994, and was selected for the senior England team in 1997. During her international career, she has won bronze medals at three

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 ...

(

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

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 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 ...

), as well as in the 1999 Netball World Championships. She also won silver with the England team at the

2010 World Netball Series The 2010 World Netball Series was the second edition of the World Netball Series, an annual international netball competition held under Fastnet (netball), fastnet rules. The 2010 event was held in Liverpool, England, and was contested between the ...

in Liverpool. In domestic netball, Atkinson played for the

Hertfordshire Mavericks Saracens Mavericks is an English netball team based at the University of Hertfordshire in Hatfield. Their senior team plays in the Netball Superleague. In 2005–06 they were founder members of the league. They were Superleague champions in ...

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 ...

, after having played an initial season with the Loughborough Lightning. She also played one season of the

National Bank Cup The National Bank Cup was the pre-eminent national netball competition in New Zealand between 1998 and 2007. From 2008, it was replaced by the ANZ Championship. Format In the rounds, each team played every other team once, then the top four teams ...

in New Zealand with the Capital Shakers (2004), and one season in the Australasian

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 ...

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, th ...

(2008). Atkinson retired from netball in 2011 and has since coached Hertfordshire Mavericks, Loughborough Lightning and the England

Fast5 Fast5 (originally called Fastnet) is a variation of netball featuring shortened games and goals worth multiple points. The new format was announced by the International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA) (now the International Netball Feder ...

team. Atkinson was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire 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 ...

(MBE) in the 2014 New Year Honours for services to netball.

References

External links

2008 ANZ Championship profile
English netball players Commonwealth Games bronze medallists for England Netball players at the 1998 Commonwealth Games Netball players at the 2002 Commonwealth Games Netball players at the 2006 Commonwealth Games Netball players at the 2010 Commonwealth Games West Coast Fever players ANZ Championship players Sportspeople from Wigan 1978 births Living people Members of the Order of the British Empire Commonwealth Games medallists in netball Netball Superleague players Loughborough Lightning netball players Mavericks netball players Netball Superleague coaches English netball coaches AENA Super Cup players Capital Shakers players Loughborough Lightning (netball) coaches English expatriate netball people in New Zealand 1999 World Netball Championships players 2011 World Netball Championships players {{England-netball-bio-stub