Natalie Haythornthwaite nominated for Player of the Season

Natalie, from Barrowford, helped Yorkshire Jets reached the play-offs, where they were beaten 76-60 at the semi-final stage by Surrey Storm on Saturday.

But, having been selected in Tracy Neville’s first England squad, the 22-year-old has made the five-strong shortlist for Player of the Season,selected by Sky Netball experts Anita Navin, Stef Bello and Natalie Seaton.

The Sky Sports website said: “The Jets GA/WA has been rewarded for her excellent performances this season with an England call-up. With speed, agility and an excellent eye for a well-timed long feed into her shooter Timmy Cato, Haythornthwaite looks set to light up the international stage in the future.”

Natalie started her netball career at the age of 10 as she progressed from county level to high performance programmes.

She began playing Super League netball at 16, and the nomination is a huge honour in her sixth season.

Natalie said: “I’m absolutely delighted to be nominated for this award, I really wasn’t expecting it at all!

“The award celebrates our success as a team.

“We’ve played well all season and this nomination is a great achievement for the whole team.

“I have a good support network at the Yorkshire Jets, so everyone is really pleased for me.

“Winning the award would end the 2015 season on a high, and also mean a deserving win for the team as a whole.”

Having previously played for the England Under 21s squad, Natalie was recalled to the senior squad for their three-Test series against Trinidad and Tobago, which begins in May.

The sides meet first on the 6th at the University of Bath, before, two days later, doing battle at the the Copper Box Arena in London.

And Monday the 11th sees the final Test at The Echo Arena in Liverpool.

Alongside playing the sport, Natalie also coaches netball and is studying speech therapy at Leeds Beckett University.

The other nominees for the award are Manchester Thunder’s Helen Housby, Sam Cook of Team Bath, Naida Hutchinson of Hertfordshire

Mavericks and Tamsin Greenway of Surrey Storm. Voting closes, at 5 p.m. on Thursday evening, and you can vote here.

After losing to Surrey on Saturday, Natalie and Yorkshire Jets are in action at the Copper Box tomorrow for a third-place play-off against Manchester Thunder, who suffered a 48-41 defeat against Hertfordshire Mavericks.