Wales Netball
May 19, 2026
Wales Netball today pays tribute to Welsh Feathers Head Coach Emily Handyside, who has made the decision to step down from her role following the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games, as the organisation prepares to recruit a full-time national Head Coach as part of its Ymladd 2030 strategy.
Emily has overseen one of the most significant periods in the history of netball in Wales since taking on the role four years ago. During her tenure, the Welsh Feathers rose up to sixth in the world rankings, the highest position ever achieved by a Welsh senior women’s sporting team, qualified for and competed at a Netball World Cup, and navigated a full Commonwealth Games cycle. The Wales Netball elite programme has grown and professionalised considerably under her leadership, building the foundations upon which Wales Netball’s most ambitious era is now being built.
Having chosen to step away at a natural transition point following the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Emily departs with the programme in the strongest position it has ever been. Her decision to move on now reflects the clarity and confidence of someone who knows they have given everything to a role and leaves it in great shape.
As part of Ymladd 2030, Wales Netball’s bold strategic blueprint for the sport, the Head Coach position will be relaunched as a full-time national performance leadership role, reflecting the growing scale, ambition and investment within elite netball in Wales. Recruitment for the position will open in August 2026, following the Commonwealth Games. The coaching team to guide the Welsh Feathers through the World Cup qualifier campaign will be announced in due course.
Emily Handyside, outgoing Head Coach of the Welsh Feathers, said: “This has been the honour of my career. Leading the Welsh Feathers over the past four years has been an experience I will always treasure, and to see where this programme now stands, seventh in the world, a World Cup completed, a Commonwealth Games cycle completed, fills me with enormous pride. I made the decision to step away from a place of fulfilment rather than fatigue. The programme is in a brilliant place, we have a fantastic pipeline of talented world-class players, the foundations are strong and the ambition around Ymladd 2030 is genuinely exciting. I wanted to hand over at a high point, and I believe we are there. I cannot wait to see what comes next for this team and for netball in Wales.”
Sarah Boswell, Chief Executive Officer, Wales Netball, said: “Emily has made an outstanding contribution to Wales Netball and the Welsh Feathers. She leaves the programme in a stronger position than she found it, and everything she has built is the platform from which our next chapter begins. Ymladd 2030 is about taking netball in Wales to the very top, and our next Head Coach will inherit something truly special. We are grateful for everything Emily has given to this programme and we wish her every success in whatever comes next.”
Bethan Dyke, Captain of the Welsh Feathers, added: “Emily has been such a big part of the Feathers programme and has given so much to the squad over the last four years. On behalf of everyone in the Feathers squad, we want to say a huge thank you for everything she has done for us, both on and off the court. We’re really looking forward to building on everything we’ve achieved together as Wales Netball heads into the next chapter. “
Wales Netball’s ambition, through Ymladd 2030, is to break into the world’s top five and establish a high-performing, sustainable elite ecosystem that stretches from grassroots through to the international stage. The appointment of a full-time Head Coach is a landmark step in that journey, reflecting the organisation’s increased investment in its performance workforce and its commitment to competing for medals at future Commonwealth Games and World Cup cycles.
Anyone wishing to register interest in the Head Coach role are invited to make initial contact with Sarah Boswell, Chief Executive Officer, at sarah.boswell@walesnetball.com.
To learn more about roles at Wales Netball and apply, visit https://walesnetball.com/job-vacancies/
