Michelle Drayne (born 22 September 1988) is a Northern Ireland netball international and a former Antrim

ladies' Gaelic football Ladies' Gaelic football ( ga, Peil Ghaelach na mBan) is a women's team sport. It is the women's equivalent of Gaelic football. Ladies' football is organised by the Ladies' Gaelic Football Association. Two teams of 15 players kick or hand-pass a ...

er. She represented Northern Ireland at the

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 ...

and 2018 Commonwealth Games and at 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 matche ...

. She was also a member of the Northern Ireland team that were silver medallists at the 2012 and 2017 European Netball Championships. Drayne has also played 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 ...

for Team Northumbria,

Saracens 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 ...

and

London Pulse London Pulse is an English netball team based at the Copper Box Arena in Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park, Stratford, London. Since 2019 their senior team has played in the Netball Superleague. History National Performance League London Pulse was ...

Early life, family and education

Drayne is from Lisburn, County Antrim. She is the daughter of Michael and Stella Drayne. She has four siblings Niamh, Maeve, Owen and Aideen. Her mother, Stella Drayne, is a former

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/team manager with both Larkfield and

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

under-21 teams. She has coached teams that have included her daughter. Michael Drayne is a

dairy farmer Dairy farming is a class of agriculture for long-term production of milk, which is processed (either on the farm or at a dairy plant, either of which may be called a dairy) for eventual sale of a dairy product. Dairy farming has a history that ...

and a partner in the family firm, Draynes Farm. Michael and Stella Drayne have also fronted various sports sponsorships on behalf of Draynes Farm. These include

Lisburn Lisburn (; ) is a city in Northern Ireland. It is southwest of Belfast city centre, on the River Lagan, which forms the boundary between County Antrim and County Down. First laid out in the 17th century by English and Welsh settlers, with ...

's Sports Personality of the Year Awards. Draynes Farm also helped sponsor the Northern Ireland team at the 2017 Netball World Youth Cup. Drayne was educated at St. Joseph's Primary School in Lisburn and at

Rathmore Grammar School Rathmore Grammar School, normally referred to simply as "Rathmore", is a Catholic grammar school in Finaghy, Belfast, Northern Ireland. The current and second lay principal of the school is Arthur Donnelly, who succeeded Thérèse Hamilton a ...

. Between 2007 and 2010 she attended

Loughborough University Loughborough University (abbreviated as ''Lough'' or ''Lboro'' for post-nominals) is a public research university in the market town of Loughborough, Leicestershire, England. It has been a university since 1966, but it dates back to 1909, when L ...

where she gained a

BSc A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Science was the University ...

in Sports Science and Management and an

M.Ed. The Master of Education (MEd or M.Ed. or Ed.M.; Latin ''Magister Educationis'' or ''Educationis Magister'') is a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. This degree in education often includes the following majors: curriculum a ...

/ PGCE in

Physical Education Physical education, often abbreviated to Phys Ed. or P.E., is a subject taught in schools around the world. It is usually taught during primary and secondary education, and encourages psychomotor learning by using a play and movement explorati ...

Netball

Clubs

Larkfield

Drayne played

for the

–based Larkfield club in the Northern Ireland Premier League. Her teammates at Larkfield included fellow

internationals,

Neamh Woods Neamh Woods is a Northern Ireland netball international and a Tyrone Ladies' Gaelic footballer. She was a member of the Northern Ireland teams at the 2018 Commonwealth Games and the 2019 Netball World Cup. As a Ladies' Gaelic footballer she p ...

and

Caroline O'Hanlon Caroline O'Hanlon is a Northern Ireland netball international and an Armagh ladies' Gaelic footballer. She has also represented Ireland at international rules. She was a member of the Northern Ireland teams at the 2003, 2011 and 2019 Netba ...

New Cambell

Drayne has also played for

Dagenham Dagenham () is a town in East London, England, within the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham. Dagenham is centred east of Charing Cross. It was historically a rural parish in the Becontree Hundred of Essex, stretching from Hainault Forest ...

-based New Cambell in the London & South-East Region Senior League.

Team Northumbria

As part of their preparations for the

2014 Commonwealth Games The 2014 Commonwealth Games ( gd, Geamannan a' Cho-fhlaitheis 2014), officially known as the XX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Glasgow 2014, ( sco, Glesca 2014 or Glesga 2014; gd, Glaschu 2014), was an international multi-sport ev ...

, the

Northern Ireland national netball team The Northern Ireland national netball team represent Northern Ireland in international netball tournaments such as the Netball World Cup, the Commonwealth Games, the European Netball Championship and the Nations Cup. The team was founded in 19 ...

formed a partnership with Team Northumbria. This saw Drayne and six other Northern Ireland internationals – Oonagh McCullough,

Noleen Lennon Noleen Lennon (born 22 March 1984), also known as Noleen Armstrong, is a former Northern Ireland netball international. She represented Northern Ireland at the 2003, 2011 and 2019 Netball World Cups and at the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Game ...

, Gemma Gibney,

Fionnuala Toner Fionnuala Toner (born 6 March 1990) is a Northern Ireland netball international. She represented Northern Ireland at the 2011 and 2019 Netball World Cups and at the 2014 and 2018 Commonwealth Games. She was also a member of the Northern Irela ...

and Niamh Cooper – play for Team Northumbria during the 2014 Netball Superleague season.

Hertfordshire Mavericks

Between

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 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 ...

, Drayne played for

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

. Her teammates at Mavericks have included

Lindsay Keable Lindsay Keable (born 11 June 1988) is an English netball player who plays for England and for the Saracens Mavericks in the positions of goal defence or goal keeper . She is the vice captain of the Saracens Mavericks and was retained by the club ...

London Pulse

Drayne will play for

during the 2020 Netball Superleague season.

Northern Ireland

Drayne represented

at under-17, under-19 and under-21 levels. She made her senior debut for Northern Ireland in 2008. She has subsequently represented Northern Ireland at the

and 2018 Commonwealth Games and at the

. She was also a member of the Northern Ireland teams that won the 2015 Nations Cup and silver medals at the 2012 and 2017 European Netball Championships. Drayne is one of several Ladies' Gaelic footballers to play netball for Northern Ireland. Others include

(

Armagh Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , "Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Pri ...

( Tyrone) and Emma and Michelle Magee ( Antrim).

Gaelic football

Clubs

Drayne has played

at club level for St. Gall's. In 2010 she helped St. Gall's win the

Ulster Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...

Intermediate Club Ladies Football Championship and was named player of the match in the final

Inter-county

Drayne also represented Antrim in the

All-Ireland Junior Ladies' Football Championship The All-Ireland Junior Ladies' Football Championship is a "knockout" competition in the game of Ladies' Gaelic football played by women in Ireland. The series of games are organised by Ladies' Gaelic Football Association (Irish :''Cumann Peil G ...

Schoolteacher

Between July 2011 and July 2015 Drayne worked as a PE teacher at St Martin's School, Brentwood. Since September 2015, she has served as Head of Netball at

New Hall School New Hall School is a Catholic co-educational independent boarding and day school in the village of Boreham in the City of Chelmsford, Essex, England. It was founded in 1642 in the Low Countries, now Belgium, by sisters of the Catholic order Cano ...

Honours

;

* Nations Cup **''Winners'': 2015: 1 *

European Netball Championship The European Netball Championship (also known as the Netball Europe Championships) is an annual netball competition organised by Netball Europe. The Championships or "Open" section features the INF World Rankings, highest-ranked European nations, an ...

**''Runner up'': 2012,

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 ...

: 2

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Drayne, Michelle 1988 births Living people Northern Ireland netball internationals Netball players at the 2014 Commonwealth Games Netball players at the 2018 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games competitors for Northern Ireland 2019 Netball World Cup players Netball Superleague players Team Northumbria netball players Mavericks netball players London Pulse players St Gall's Gaelic footballers Antrim ladies' Gaelic footballers Sportspeople from Lisburn Irish expatriate sportspeople in England Schoolteachers from Northern Ireland People educated at Rathmore Grammar School Alumni of Loughborough University