On Sunday, England will play their first international match against Australia in a women's game.
James Thomson- Boston is the captain of the England Thorns. It's not a big deal.
The men's game will be a curtain-raiser to the women's game on Sunday.
Thomson-Boston tells the story of how she got into a sport that was mostly played by women and what it meant to be part of a side that will go down in history.
Thomson-Boston started out as a basketball player but fell in love with the game after friends asked him to play it.
He says that the sport doesn't get the credit it deserves for how hard it is to play.
When you start to learn the game, you realize how amazing it is.
The Knights are one of the 10 men's clubs in the UK.
Men have always been a part of the training process for Super League teams and the Roses, but now they are starting to create their own identity in the sport.
There are more contests in the air for the men's game. The female side is very smart and it's seen as an athletic style of basketball.
There is only so much we can do in a game if we are athletic.
When you watch the Roses play, you think, "So that's what I can do to beat a player that means I'm not just sprinting at 100mph?"
The Thorns squad was announced in March but trials took place before Covid hit and Thomson-Boston says "people were working tirelessly behind the scenes" to ensure the infrastructure was in place to get the squad up and running after lockdown.
Once the team was announced Thomson-Boston says "it never felt like anything other than partners" between them and the Roses.
The men helped with the preparation for the Commonwealth Games.
The fact that this isn't just a girls' sport, that boys should be allowed to play it, and that the stigma will lift the more that we push ourselves out there, it's proof that this isn't just a girls' sport.
Thomson- Boston was born in Australia, where he says there is no stigma around men playing a sport like netball.
He says that it's all under the same banner and respected as the same sport.
It was non-existent when I moved to England. It was difficult to find a mixed team. I would say "I'm just off to play basketball" and people would think I was talking about basketball.
Many of the Thorns players fought to play the sport they love.
"A few of the boys persevered through a tough couple of years where they've said 'I really want to play this sport' and they've been met with resistances at school or at other netball clubs who didn't want a boy playing with them."
"Now they're at the elite level and it shows this sport should be available for boys to play, why are we limiting anyone playing sport?" You should be able to play a variety of sports.
Australia is the dominant force in the sport.
"Australia are an elite team and they have been for a while, but we have the element of surprise," said Thomson- Boston. They have some athletic boys but not as athletic as the boys we have.
As a captain, I could never say that you shouldn't go into a game thinking you are going to win. We have this.
People who are part of the England set-up are not the only ones who will benefit from this. Sometimes, when we've been allowed in to all-female clubs, they'll let one of the boys in to train.
The win will be a bonus and we will do them all proud.
With a view to getting at least mixed netball into the Commonwealth Games, Thomson- Boston hopes that international fixtures can become more frequent.
He says the sky is the Limit. If we're doing baby steps then mixed would be first.
For many players it will be their first international since the disappointment of finishing fourth at the Commonwealth Games in August, as the Roses start their series against Australia on Wednesday.
Geva Mentor, who has 160 England caps, says it is an opportunity to show they have recovered from their "traumatic experience" and also to have the men playing on Sunday.
It's great. She says that it's great that the men are the curtain raiser in most sports.
Get excited about it. A different dynamic is brought by it. It's just trying to find it's own niche in the world.
It's huge to have them playing with us. It's important for us to keep improving and pushing gender equality because it's in a really good place.
I've always advocated for boys in the sport. They're excited to be here because they're leading the way.
The more people are playing, the better it will be for us.
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