Sunshine Girl legend and Adelaide Thunderbirds goal shooter Romelda Aiken-George has officially announced her retirement from the Suncorp Super Netball league, bringing to a close an extraordinary 18-season career that has left an indelible mark on the sport.
Aiken-George, who holds the record for the most games played across both the Suncorp Super Netball and former ANZ Championship, retires with 245 appearances to her name and four premiership titles. Her announcement comes just ahead of the 2025 Grand Final, and shortly after Thunderbirds captain Hannah Petty also called time on her career.
“Right now, I am feeling somewhat sad, but the body is just like ‘let’s take a time out’ but I think my mind is saying ‘yeah we can do it,” said Aiken-George, whose career has been punctuated by resilience and a long battle with injuries.
A trailblazer for Jamaican netballers in Australia, Aiken-George was the first of many Sunshine Girls to star in the league and helped pave the way for others to follow. She credited former Netball Jamaica president Marva Bernard with giving her the support and confidence to pursue her career abroad.
“(Leaving Jamaica) was daunting – I was very scared,” she recalled.
“My sister and I got a scholarship to go to America to play basketball and my sister went over very early. I was meant to go in the second semester of her starting there and I didn’t go and then I got the opportunity to come to Australia. At the time, my mum said ‘She’s too young to leave. She’s got to stay here for another year of school.’
“I remember when (Marva) Bernard—she had to convince my mum. (Bernard) gave my mum so much confidence in going to another country, because she was so scared to allow me to go. My calling was to stay with Netball.”
Over the course of her storied career, Aiken-George represented the Queensland Firebirds, New South Wales Swifts, and most recently the Adelaide Thunderbirds, where she played a key role in their 2024 championship run and was named MVP of the Grand Final.
Thunderbirds head coach Tania Obst praised the Jamaican icon not only for her presence on the court but also for her influence off it.
“Romelda has brought great insights and experience to our team along with her infectious personality,” Obst said. “Her MVP performance in the 2024 grand final was sensational being such a strong and imposing presence within the goal circle. We have loved having Gianna [Aiken-George’s daughter] around our team too – to watch her grow over the past two years has been delightful.”
Aiken-George also expressed gratitude for the opportunity to play alongside her fellow Jamaicans during the latter part of her career.
“To have spent the past two years at the Thunderbirds, it’s been amazing to play with this group and I’m so grateful that my career crossed paths with Shamera [Sterling-Humphrey] and Latanya [Wilson] in particular,” she said.
“To have played in this competition for so long before any other Jamaicans joined, it’s extra special for me to have had these years playing with them and living with them too.”
While her departure leaves a major gap in the Thunderbirds’ roster ahead of the trade period, Aiken-George’s legacy is firmly cemented—not just as a champion athlete but as a mentor and role model for future generations of Jamaican netballers.
It remains unclear whether Aiken-George will continue to represent Jamaica in international competition, but her impact on the sport, both in Australia and back home, is undeniable.
