SONNING netball starlet Sophie Drakeford-Lewis is focused on one thing only – turning youth success with England into senior caps.

The 18-year-old is chomping at the bit to win a place in England’s camp for the Netball Europe Open Championships in Cardiff at the start of next month.

She played a key role in her country’s surge to the World Youth Cup semi finals in July, with the squad eventually winning bronze.

And she hopes she can shine on the practice courts enough to impress the powers that be in order to get her shot at senior international level.

“I think we have a lot of strong athletes coming through to the senior squad, so hopefully the future is bright,” said Drakeford-Lewis.

“I’m currently training for the Netball Europe Championships, and I’m really excited about that as it’s the first opportunity for me to get a senior cap for the England Roses.

“Being selected has given me a big confidence boost. I’m excited to learn from the senior players in the squad and put myself into consideration for the next couple of series and potentially the Commonwealth Games and the World Cup in 2019.”

Drakeford-Lewis, who benefits from receiving financial aid as part of the SSE Next Generation scheme, begins studying mechanical and electrical engineering at the University of Bath this month.

The teenager was part of the England side which won bronze in July’s Netball World Youth Cup in Gaborone, Botswana in July.

The group had powered through to the semi-finals, but lost against a strong Australian side, before beating Fiji 70-35 in the third-place play-off.

And the experience, the teenager said, was instrumental in bringing the squad closer together as they prepared for their swansong as a youth set-up.

“England haven’t medalled at the World Youth Cup in 12 years, so for us to get a medal was quite an achievement,” she said.

“We definitely grew throughout the tournament as a squad. We had a couple of issues with illness, but we all stuck together and we put up a good fight against Australia in the semi-final, we just could not pull through in the last quarter.

“We played really well against Fiji and stuck together as a team, obviously we’d have loved to be in the final but we were so pleased with our performance.

“That was our final tournament as an Under 21 squad, but it’s really encouraged us to carry on.”

Since 2013, SSE is proud to make a difference to young people, their families and their communities, by investing in the future of sporting talent through the SSE Next Generation scheme. Keep up to date @YourSSE