WHEN Michelle Magee went to the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games, she was a schoolgirl just turned 18 and the youngest member of Elaine Rice’s netball squad by an astonishing seven and a half years.

Head coach Rice had gone out on a limb, leaving out a well-established player and risking real wrath for doing so, partly in the interests of achieving a better balance to the squad but also because she saw something special in the teenager.

Rice’s investment has paid rich dividends because Westside’s Magee goes into these Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games as an incredibly influential figure in Northern Ireland netball, both on and off court, and a very valuable leader within this Warriors set-up.

She’s still the third youngest in this squad and everyone else in the starting seven is older but Magee is now a very experienced player who has two major tournaments under her belt with NI and started the last 13 British SuperLeague games this season for Leeds Rhinos.

A tendency to leave personal possessions behind prompted good-natured jokes about Magee needing minded by her team-mates on that trip Down Under, but there were glimpses too of the formidable woman that overgrown child would quickly become.

Her happy, positive, vibrant, rather endearing interview with BBC Newsround ahead of that tournament gave us an early glimpse of Magee’s self-confidence and big personality, and the accompanying footage from training reflected an already imposing physical specimen.

She had developed an early reputation as a precocious sporting talent, with two Ulster Schools All Stars to her name in Gaelic football as well as having played a leading role in Carryduff winning the first Down Senior Championship in their history.

First capped at senior level aged just 17 the previous summer and part of the squad which won silver medals at the European Championships in Cardiff a few months later, Magee thrived when thrown in at the deep end on the opening night of the Gold Coast Games.

Northern Ireland’s first fixture was against reigning Commonwealth champions Australia, a fully professional side playing at home in front of a capacity crowd and prime-time television audience, and Magee got the last two quarters, split between both back circle positions.

After another run-out against South Africa, she played every minute of the third match against Jamaica and featured for the full second half in the crucial victories over Barbados and Fiji followed by the placings game against Malawi.

On the back of those huge highs, Michelle had to sit her A-levels a few weeks after returning from Australia and came away with a clean sweep of A* grades, reflecting not only her clear academic ability but outstanding discipline and capacity to compartmentalise.

She has subsequently graduated last summer with high honours in Biomedical Engineering from Loughborough University and this autumn will embark upon Masters studies in her professional netball base of Leeds.

Michelle Magee won't be playing in a second consecutive All Ireland Junior final this Sunday due to the Commonwealth Games
2Gallery

Michelle Magee won't be playing in a second consecutive All Ireland Junior final this Sunday due to the Commonwealth Games

Had it not been for the direct clash with the Commonwealth Games, Magee would have been gracing Croke Park this weekend as a key player for the Antrim county team in their All-Ireland Ladies Junior Football Championship final.

Her versatility showed when she returned from playing international friendlies for NI against Scotland and Wales in Glasgow the two previous evenings to score 1-5 from play as a second half sub, including the winning goal, in last August’s All Ireland Junior semi.

Described by Rice as the ‘ultimate professional’, meticulous Michelle, who captained NI Under 21s to European Championship silver medals last November and was upgraded to a full pro deal at Rhinos, has a great work ethic to complement outstanding natural talent.

After successfully converting to the new position of wing defence for Rhinos over recent months, she will now revert to the back circle for Northern Ireland, tasked with trying to shackle some of the world’s most prolific forwards.

At just under six feet tall, Magee will be significantly shorter than most of the shooters she is marking in Birmingham but she can offset some of that height disadvantage with her mix of smarts, unflappability, physicality and that imposing presence she exudes.

From being the ‘baby’ of the Gold Coast squad, the totemic Magee’s general leadership skills and calming influence in support of captain Caroline O’Hanlon can help Northern Ireland’s major tournament newcomers settle in and find their feet this time round.