Pavelin says career in accountancy helped her netball journey

Versatile Tash Pavelin believes a career in accountancy has equipped her with all the number-crunching tools required for her Vitality Roses debut this autumn.

The Team Bath netball star has been included in Jess Thirlby’s squad for the upcoming three-match series with Uganda, which starts on October 5, and will sit her final ACA exam just a month later.

Balancing both has obviously been a challenge for the 24-year-old, but she admits there is a greater overlap between the two disciplines than one might expect.

On how she manages the two commitments, she said: “It's a lot!
“But work are really supportive in being able to give me the opportunity to go and do the netball stuff alongside the work.

“It requires a lot of organisation. Communication and teamwork, they overlap between the two, just working in a team, I do that a lot at work and obviously, it's a massive thing in terms of working in team sports.”

Pavelin has had to be patient for a first international call-up, having first been named in the Under-17 squad back in 2015.

From there, she developed through the Team Bath performance pathway, where she encountered her idol and fellow defender, Layla Guscoth, who she credits with helping to ready her game for international level.

“She's kind of always been in and around that area [the defence], and definitely playing as the best goal defence in the world at the minute," said Pavelin.

“Then having the opportunity to play alongside her at Bath for the last couple of years, it's just been really amazing.

“I just feel like I've learned so much training and playing alongside her. The tactical stuff in terms of what you're doing against certain different attacks.

“She's just really switched on and really clever in how she plays, so I've been trying to kind of pick that up along the way.

“Just working alongside someone like that, they tell you where to go, and then just kind of picking that up as you go, it was just amazing to gain experience alongside her.”

Pavelin is one of just two members of Team Bath included in Thirlby’s squad, as they ramp up preparations for next year’s World Cup.

Though she admits she was nervous when meeting her more established international colleagues for the first time, Pavelin had club teammate Imogen Allison close at hand, who proved to be a calming influence.

“It's definitely been a case of meeting a lot of new people,” she said.

“I knew of everyone from playing against them but didn't know everyone all that well coming into it, so it was definitely a bit first day of school vibes.

“It's great to have her [Allison] by my side going into this because obviously she knows all the girls really well.

“She's definitely put me at ease in that sense.”

Tickets to see the Vitality Roses in action against Uganda are still available from the England Netball website