Board of Directors

Lucy is a consultant specialising in leadership development and equality and diversity and is Co-Founder of FAB – Females Achieving Brilliance and is joint Programme Director for WSLA – the Women’s Sports Leadership Academy. She is passionate about helping people grow and develop as well as supporting organisations to achieve their potential. She has considerable experience of supporting people and organisations through change working with them to identify strengths and capabilities and setting strategy.

Lucy has nearly 30 years’ experience working with and for national governing bodies of sport and organisations in the private and public sector in a range of leadership roles including National Development Manager at Netball England and Equality Manager at The Football Association. She has considerable experience of being a volunteer in netball as a coach, umpire, Chair of a County Netball Association as well as being a former national team manager at U18 and U21 levels.

Karen is passionate about helping Netball Scotland to continue to develop and progress on the world stage.

She is currently working on a Female Accelerator Project in Saudi Arabia and brings extensive knowledge of the international netball landscape alongside a deep understanding of high-performance sports systems.  Karen has previously worked with governing bodies as well as holding various NSL coaching and Director of Netball roles.  Previous board positions include the British Athletes Commission and Commonwealth England Board.

Paul is an experienced finance professional and commercial business partner with a passion for driving value and insight to an organisation. He has a proven track record as a strong business leader with a customer centric mind set, a motivation for continuous improvement and an appetite for developing highly engaged and empowered people, across international markets to deliver exceptional results.  This will be Paul’s first Board Director role, and he is excited and honoured to work with the Netball Scotland organisation in supporting the business to grow and shape and realise the strategic vision.

Linda Cairney brings extensive leadership experience from over thirty years in the Royal Navy, where she currently serves as the Naval Assistant to the First Sea Lord. With a lifelong commitment to netball, she is Coach of the Royal Navy Netball Association and Chair of the UK Armed Forces Netball Association, championing player development and raising the profile of Armed Forces netball.

A trustee of Veterans at Ease, and an advocate for diversity, inclusion, and mental well-being, she mentors women across defence and sport to become confident leaders. Holding an MBA and recognised with a Commendation in the New Year’s Honours, her expertise in governance, strategy, and athlete development makes her an invaluable member of the Netball Scotland Board.

Sara is a respected HR professional and business leader specialising in delivering Equality, Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (EDEI) strategies. With over 20 years of HR experience in FTSE businesses and elite sporting organisations, including most recently Chelsea FC and before that Ladbrokes.

Sara created ODISEE (www.odisee.uk) to support businesses and HR departments to deliver strong EDEI strategies, plans and initiatives. Using strong communication skills, pragmatism and a high degree of personal resilience has enabled me to support and deliver transformational change within fast-paced, competitive sectors.  ODISEE beings HR and EDEI together to create sustainable, diverse and inclusive cultures that support commercial growth and promote organisational awareness.

Wendy brings significant political expertise to the Netball Scotland Board. She has held a number of senior positions associated with the Scottish Government and in the Scottish Parliament where she has influenced legislation and is now involved in international government relations and negotiations. A long time Netball Scotland member (playing, coaching, umpiring and previously on the CENA committee), Wendy is passionate about the impact sport can have on communities and on increasing visibility for women’s sport.

Claire works in the sports industry as Commercial Manager, with a passion to develop purpose-led partnerships.  Her experience in golf, cycling and cricket will be invaluable to create and develop Netball Scotland’s full potential and realise it’s future ambition, domestically and nationally.

Outside of work, Claire enjoys playing sport and supporting charities, sometimes taking on adventurous challenges.  Her enthusiasm and energy will be a great asset to the Netball Scotland Board.

Having previously been the Secretary of a financial firm’s charitable foundation, Claire knows what it takes to be an effective and efficient Board.  She also knows the need for a governing body to be ambitious and creative to achieve success.

Claire is excited to explore the opportunities which her first Board Directorship will offer to her and how her expertise can be of benefit to the organisation.

Gemma Sole is an experienced Executive Coach and avid netballer.

In her role as Partner at School for CEOs she supports a range of leaders across sectors and sizes, from sport to technology to financial services, and from startup to FTSE 100. She typically works 1:1 with senior executives in coaching relationships and she also leads on the School’s Inclusive Leadership offering, designing bespoke programmes and drawing on her expertise in Reverse Mentoring. In 2022 she was named in the Business Insider’s 35 Rising Stars of Scottish Business under 35 for her work supporting inclusion in organisations.

She has a BA Hons Modern Languages and European Studies (French and Spanish) from University of Bath (where her love for netball was turbo-charged) and an MSc Occupational and Organisational Psychology from Northumbria University (where she competed in the Vitality Superleague with Team Northumbria).

She is passionate about netball having represented Scotland 36 times between 2010-2016, competing in the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games and 2015 Netball World Cup in Sydney.

Gemma now coaches and plays netball with her club Edinburgh Accies, which she co-founded in 2018.

Zoe is a chartered accountant who has enjoyed a successful career in finance and accounting for over 15 years, gaining experience across various roles in Financial Services and the Technology Industry.  Zoe is the Chief Financial Officer and a Director of one of Scotland’s fastest growing Business and Digital Transformation companies, Stellar Omada. She has been a driving force to their success since joining in 2020.

Zoe is passionate about delivering successful outcomes across business and sport, focusing on young talent and community.

Outside of work, Zoe is an active Netball Scotland member (including playing, coaching, and supporting her local club) and is thrilled to support Netball Scotland and their ambitions for the future.

Upneet is an experienced senior leader with a 12+ year track-record in delivering successful marketing strategies and world-class campaigns, while leading teams in creating lasting fan engagement and subsequent revenue (£8-figures/year) for major brands.

With extensive experience of working in professional sport, Upneet has previously worked across Guinness Six Nations, EFL Skybet Championship and the Barclays Women’s WSL. Upneet is passionate about using the power of sport and storytelling to build in-person and online communities.

Stuart is a commercial and marketing leader with a continuous record of success working with some of Europe’s biggest sports organisations and best-loved consumer brands.

With 20 years of experience in various sports governing bodies and professional teams – including Scottish Rugby, Scottish Golf and one of Irish rugby’s four provinces, Ulster Rugby.