Mary French (netball)

French was born Mary Patricia Bushell on 13 February 1926 and grew up in Brockley, South London. She initially attended Mary Datchelor School. Between 1943 and 1946 she attended Dartford College of Physical Education. She began teaching at Purley County School and later moved on to teach mathematics at Croydon High School. In 1957, she married Philip French, a bank inspector, and they had two daughters, Jaqi and Nicky. Both of her daughters attended Croydon High School while she was a teacher there. Philip French died in 1985.^[2][4][5]

As a schoolgirl, French helped pioneer netball in Wales. Mary Datchelor School, including French, was evacuated to Llanelli for the duration of World War II. One of French's PE teachers, Marion Morton, helped form a small committee to organise netball matches, some of which featured French. This committee later became the Wales Netball Association.^{[4][5][2][3][6]} In 1945 she began representing Surrey County as a goalkeeper.^[2][3]

Between 1949 and 1957, French played for England. She played as a goal defender for England as they made their Test debut during the 1949 England Scotland Wales Netball Series. She later captained England during the 1956 away series against South Africa.^{[2][3][4][5][7][8]}

Between 1967 and 1975, French served as head coach of England, including at the 1967, 1971 and 1975 World Netball Championships. In 1975, she guided England to second place.^[2][3][9]

Source:^[1]

Between 1984 and 1986, French served as Wales head coach.^[2]