At six-foot two-and-half inches, Whitney Ambriton has every reason to think she’d be great at netball.

In fact, the 22-year-old Royal Navy writer discovered that it takes a lot more, such as speed, skill and most importantly of all – teamwork.

Able Rate Whitney, who went on to represent the navy in the Interservices Championships last year, said: “Actually, when I started playing netball for the navy, that was my first time doing any sort of sport, and I wasn’t really that good.

“It wasn’t until we started playing a lot of games at the weekends that I got a lot better. You need to be able to work as a team and change your plan – and you need to be quick and think quickly on your feet.”

Able Rate Whitney works in the Writers section, the arm of the navy which deals with all the sailors’ personnel matters.

She also represents the 20 or so sailors who have joined the Royal Navy directly from Commonwealth countries and now find themselves living on the base at Culdrose.

She herself comes from the Caribbean island of Saint Vincent, having moved to the UK upon joining the navy in September 2017.

“I like it here in the UK,” she added. “But it’s not home of course – my family are all in St Vincent.

“I also help those people who find themselves here on leave, such as at Christmas, but who don’t have places to stay. I’ll be the one to find them somewhere.”

Able Rate Ambriton was recently singled for an award by the out-going captain for her outstanding contribution to Culdrose.