Sara Francis-Bayman

Sara Francis-Bayman

Personal information
Born	Sara Bayman (1984-12-23) 23 December 1984 (age 40) Wigan, England
Height	181 cm (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)
School	Winstanley College[1]
University	University of Bath
Netball career
Playing position(s): C, WD
Years	Club team(s)	Apps
2004, 2006–2009	Team Bath
?–2016	Manchester Thunder
2016–2017	Central Pulse
2017	UWS Sirens
Years	National team(s)	Caps
?–?	England	84
Coaching career
Years	Team(s)
2018–2021	Loughborough Lightning
2023-present	West Coast Fever (Asst.)
Medal record Representing  England Commonwealth Games 2010 Delhi Netball Netball World Cup 2015 Sydney Netball

Sara Francis-Bayman (née Bayman, born 23 December 1984) is an English former netball player and coach from Billinge near Wigan, England.[2] She is currently an Assistant Coach for the West Coast Fever in the Suncorp Super Netball.

Playing career

At a club level, Bayman started her career at Team Bath[3] and has represented Manchester Thunder and UWS Sirens in the Netball Superleague, and Central Pulse in the ANZ Premiership.[2][4][5] Francis-Bayman won the Netball Superleague four times as a player.[6][3] and was captain of Manchester Thunder.[7]

Bayman represented England in their Bronze medal winning 2010 Commonwealth Games campaign but ruptured her knee ahead of the 2011 World Cup.[3] She was part of the 2014 Commonwealth Games squad which failed to medal in Glasgow[7] but went on to be part of the Bronze Medal winning team at the 2015 World Cup.[8]

Coaching career

Francis-Bayman was Head Coach at Loughborough Lightning from 2018, winning Superleague Coach of the Year in her first year.[6][9] She led the team to a semi-final finish in 2019 and a Superleague title in 2021.[10]

She was assistant coach for Scotland under former England teammate Tamsin Greenway including the Thistles’ 2022 Commonwealth Games campaign in Birmingham.[6]

Following Lightning's Grand Final win in 2021, she took a leave of absence to spend time with her wife in Australia.[11] She was subsequently appointed as an Assistant Coach to the Queensland Firebirds in 2023 before being dropped days before the season opener.[12] After time as an Assistant Talent Coach for Western Australia, she was appointed Assistant Coach at the West Coast Fever for the 2024 season.[13]

Personal life

On 24 December 2018, Sara proposed to her long term partner and ex-England Roses team mate Stacey Francis.[14] The couple met during their playing days and married in 2020.[15]

Francis-Bayman is also known for commentating the England Roses historic 2018 Commonwealth Games Gold Medal match on the BBC, alongside Caroline Barker.[16] She was host of the Netball Nation podcast from 2019 to 2020.[17]

References

1. "Sara Bayman". winstanley.ac.uk. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
2. "Previous Netball Superleague squads". teambath.com. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
3. Sinclair, Jenny (21 December 2021). "NS EXCLUSIVE: Sara Francis-Bayman – Talkin' Bout a Revolution". Netball Scoop. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
4. "Sara Bayman among a host of new recruits for Vitality Superleague team UWS SIrens". Sky Sports. 3 November 2017. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
5. "Sara Bayman and Helen Housby pleased to be back with Manchester Thunder". Sky Sports. 23 September 2017. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
6. "Firebirds add ex-English international to coaching staff". The Home of the Queensland Firebirds. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
7. Evans, Denise (17 April 2015). ".@runlikeforrest: @ThunderNetball can perform under pressure at the @mcrarena". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
8. Thunder, Manchester (26 June 2015). "Thunder players selected for Netball World Cup in Sydney - Manchester Thunder". Retrieved 20 July 2024.
9. Evans, Denise (12 July 2018). "Netball Superleague: Loughborough Lightning name Sara Bayman as head coach". BBC Sport. Retrieved 10 October 2018.
10. "Netball Superleague 2021: Loughborough Lightning beat Team Bath in final". BBC Sport. 27 June 2021. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
11. SkySports (11 October 2022). "Sara Francis-Bayman joins Queensland Firebirds as assistant coach". Sky Sports. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
12. "Firebirds part ways with Francis-Bayman". The Home of the Queensland Firebirds. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
13. "Fever strengthens coaching team with Francis-Bayman". West Coast Fever. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
14. Francis, Stacey [@StcyJyneFrancis] (24 December 2018). "She decided to pick her own birthday present this year...!!!!" (Tweet). Retrieved 10 January 2019 – via Twitter.
15. Ratcliffe, Katherine (21 June 2023). "Pride Month 2023: How the Francis-Baymans took different paths to embracing LGBTQ+ visibility". England Netball. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
16. Wrack, Suzanne (19 May 2019). "Sara Bayman: 'England's gold will be seen as the pivotal moment for netball'". The Observer. ISSN 0029-7712. Retrieved 20 July 2024.
17. "Netball Nation on Apple Podcasts". Apple Podcasts. 27 August 2020. Retrieved 20 July 2024.