Halberg Awards 2020

Netball Waikato Bay of Plenty Netball Central

The year 2020 was an extremely tough one for Waikato Bay of Plenty (WBOP), with various COVID-19 related challenges affecting all aspects of the sport across the region.

When COVID-19 restrictions brought Netball to a grinding halt, Zoom meetings became the norm as the Zone community staff initiated regular online meetings to support Centres to navigate their way through this new space.

A huge thanks to the Netball Centres who not only joined in on regular Zoom meetings to ask questions, share their ideas and their learnings, but to those who also accepted roles on the national and local advisory groups to ensure all levels of the game were being considered around each ‘return to Netball’ phase of the sport.

Membership numbers were understandably down this year, as five Centres were unable to provide any competitions. However, the 50 percent reduction in fees went a long way towards ensuring accessibility due to funds wasn’t a barrier. Thanks to the Centres who included their neighbouring Netballers to provide leagues and competitions for teams outside their normal catchment area.

The ‘Hampton Downs’ Zone Forum, held in November, saw Centres congregate in person and share their enthusiasm around planning for the 2021 season. Reflecting through the ‘rear-view mirror’, identifying the bumps along the road, helped the planning process as we negotiated the road ahead looking through the ‘front windscreen’ while taking all our learnings with us from our modified Netball journey this year. We can now look at what we can do differently to ensure everyone in Netball in our Zone has the best Netball experience possible.

Congratulations must go to WBOP Centres, their staff and volunteers who worked tirelessly to provide Netball and followed strict protocols to ensure every person was entering a safe zone under the Government, NNZ and Zone guidelines.

The staff of Netball WBOP should be applauded for sharing their skills and expertise through a very challenging year, and ensuring all Netball Centres, schools and Clubs were supported every step of the way.

While the Beko Netball League was cancelled due to COVID-19, we still managed to organise a curtain-raiser match against the Northern Marvels, prior to one of the Splice Construction Magic matches at Claudelands Arena. This was a highlight for our players, being able to play in front of a home crowd.

The cancellation of the U16 North Island Champs, Netball NZ U18 Champs and UNISS meant that secondary school Netball was also seriously compromised in 2020. In conjunction with Wintec, we hosted a series of talent identification roadshows throughout the Zone, which enabled us to make informed decisions on the selection of our U16 and U18 Zone performance squads.

This year saw the introduction of the Emerging Talent squad where 10 to 12 players were selected who were 18 or over and close to National Netball League (NNL) selection, and who we believed would benefit from some extra pre-season coaching and strength and conditioning education to enable them to contest more strongly for the NNL selections at the end of the year. After two sessions held in February, this programme was sadly put on hold as well.

The selection of the 2021 NZU21 Netball World Youth Cup squad was a highly anticipated announcement, with the Zone delighted to congratulate Khiarna Williams, Georgie Edgecombe and Greer Sinclair on their well-deserved inclusions. It was fantastic to see Khiarna and Georgie out on court with this team during the Cadbury Netball Series.

The Splice Construction Magic showed true grit and determination throughout the adapted ANZ Premiership season, led brilliantly by head coach Amigene Metcalfe and captain Sam Winders. We are very grateful we were able to host three home matches at Claudelands Arena in Hamilton – it was an absolute pleasure to play in front of our home fans. We wish to thank everyone who continues to support us, including fans, commercial partners and the community. We look forward to an exciting 2021 season.

The 2020 season has been a challenging one due to COVID-19, and the impact this had on community sport in Netball was felt across the country.

Despite these challenges, we are grateful to the NZ Government and Sport NZ for the funding options available to Centres, Central Zone and NNZ and for the fact that there could still be achievements on and off the court.

In the second year of the Cadbury Volunteer Awards, a light was shone on young Wellington umpire Amelia Wheeler, who was named as the Cadbury Volunteer Official of the Year having been described as a ‘real ambassador’ of the game from a young age. Amelia is an umpire coach for player umpires in Wellington East and is a Board intern who provides not only the youth voice but also the umpire’s voice at Board meetings. She tutors the New Zealand and Zone theory classes as well – congratulations once again to Amelia.

Despite the interruptions of COVID-19, it was pleasing to have some Zone Umpire accreditation and New Zealand Umpire accreditation; congratulations to those recipients. With only two international events – congratulations also goes to the following umpires who were appointed to the Cadbury Netball Series: Angela Armstrong-Lush, Gareth Fowler, Ann Hay and Ken Metekingi and Angela Armstrong-Lush; and Gareth Fowler to the Taini Jamison Trophy. We have continued to develop our PCQ coaches with two new coaches being accredited – congratulations to Pelesa Semu and Charissa Barham.

With no age-grade tournaments played this year our concentration went well and truly into putting plans in place to get Community Netball up and running in all our Centres. A huge heartfelt acknowledgement goes to all our Centres and their respective boards for allowing our communities to have a positive opportunity to play. While we all faced slightly challenging issues within our communities the fact remains that Netball was able to be played and that is an amazing achievement given the year that has been.

We were pleased that the following players were selected to attend the NNZ National Development Camp earlier in January. Ashleigh Poi (Hawke’s Bay), Atareta McCausland-Durie (Manawatū), Eileen Polu (Wellington and Hutt Valley), Janaya Preece (Manawatū), Lucy Ross (Wellington), Madison Thomas (Manawatū), Maia Karena-Barrett (Manawatū), Mollie Nicol (Wellington), Parris Mason (Manawatū), Parris Petera (Hawke’s Bay), Pypah Hailwood (Manawatū), Sam Mackinder (Manawatū), Shyan Murphy (Hawke’s Bay), Torren Isaako (Wellington and Kapi-Mana) and Zalika Clarke (Wellington).

Those selected for the 2020 Central Manawa team were then unable to participate but the following players were subsequently named in the NZU21 squad: Ainsleyana Puleiata, Paris Lokotui and Parris Mason. Te Wānanga o Raukawa Pulse players Maddy Gordon, Renee Savai’inaea and Tiana Metuarau were also selected.

The Te Wānanga o Raukawa Pulse had another thrilling year, making the Finals Series for the fourth year in a row and in the Grand Final went up against The Good Oil Tactix in Invercargill. The result was a back-to-back win, 43-31, which was a fitting send-off for head coach Yvette McCausland-Durie after her four-year tenure. We are extremely grateful for the leadership and culture that Yvette was an integral part of. She fittingly went on to be named ANZ Premiership Coach of the Year and head coach of the NZU21 team. Notably Jill Clapcott has been named manager of the NZU21 team.

National honours came fast for the team with nine players selected: Katrina Rore, Ameliaranne Ekenasio, Karin Burger, Claire Kersten, Kelly Jury and Maddy Gordon all selected into the Silver Ferns squad and Aliyah Dunn in the Silver Ferns Development Squad with Tiana, Maddy and Renee as mentioned in the NZU21 squad.

A big thank you to all Netball Central Zone Board, staff, Centres and volunteers as we continue to focus on connecting our communities through our shared love of Netball.

Netball Mainland

It has been a turbulent year for most, and especially Netball Mainland which went into voluntary liquidation in April.

Regardless of the sudden change, it was heartening to see how adaptable the Mainland Centres were with their competition structures and rules throughout the pandemic.

Centres worked on their health-check plans to ensure they were ready to return to play Netball under the COVID-19 guidelines from the Ministry of Health, the Government, Sport NZ and NNZ.

The Poipoia strategy, set earlier in the year by NNZ, encouraged Centres to look at new and innovative ways of delivering Netball. A leadership group of Board Presidents and Centre Managers was formed to connect the region and bring the pillars of Poipoia to life. In addition, regular online Zoom meetings were held with the Centres to share learnings and to support one another through the disruptive season.

Though there were challenges, it was great to see some of our pilot programmes come to fruition. Nelson Netball Centre and Christchurch Netball Centre were part of the Fast5 Centre Project (funded by Sport NZ’s Women and Girls initiative) led by youth for youth, as a way of encouraging participation in a reformatted style of play. Three developed Youth Advisory Groups encouraged youth in the region to have a say in the way they participate in Netball. Selwyn Netball Centre, South Canterbury Netball Centre and Marlborough Netball Centre were part of the Cadbury Volunteer pilot, giving thanks back to our volunteers in the community for the time, energy and dedication to the game.

Post the June lockdown, The Good Oil Tactix returned to the court stronger than ever in the ANZ Premiership. Along with the Centres, Netball Mainland’s voluntary liquidation meant a change to processes and forced the entire Tactix group to be more adaptable and versatile than ever before.

Led by head coach Marianne DelaneyHoshek, the Tactix put together an extremely successful 2020 ANZ Premiership season, clinching a spot in the Grand Final for the first time.

With one home match in the revised schedule, Tactix fans showed up in droves – with the match against the Robinhood Stars at Horncastle Arena in Christchurch making history as the largest ANZ Premiership match ever, with over 5,000 people in the stadium.

Despite a strong effort in falling short against the Te Wānanga o Raukawa Pulse in the Grand Final, it was a season to be proud of with captain Jane Watson earning the 2020 ANZ Premiership Player of the Year award as well.

The Silver Ferns were fortunate to be able to take to the court in two series in October/November, taking the win in both. Congratulations to Jane Watson, Kimiora Poi and Te Paea SelbyRickit on being named in the 2020/21 Silver Ferns squad, Ellie Bird and Temalisi Fakahokotau on being named in the 2020-2021 Silver Ferns Development Squad and Hannah Glen in the NZU21 squad.

A big thanks to all the Tactix sponsors; in particular, The Good Oil, SKOPE and Trident Homes. And a grateful thanks to all the funders that contributed to the development of Netball in the region: Rata Foundation, Sport Canterbury, Sport NZ, Christchurch City Council and the Lion Foundation.

Netball South

The start of 2020 held very exciting prospects for Netball South.

It was all about converting the value of changes made in 2019 to our staffing and our ability to connect with our members using newly-deployed membership database technology. In support of our new found capability, we welcomed a new Marketing Assistant to the team, who, among other things, was tasked with the job of igniting our digital channels to share the stories behind Community Netball in the South and the Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel.

And so off we went, roaring into the first quarter with the Steel competing in Super Club after an early November start. Following a break, the Steel headed to Central Otago to engage with 891 children across 18 schools in between two pre-season fixtures against The Good Oil Tactix and Te Wānanga o Raukawa Pulse. While in Dunedin, a pilot programme was run for the Composite Coach Qualification (CCQ) closely followed by new coach developer training in February.

We were midway through our Steps to Steel Talent Programme in March when the impact of COVID-19 started to bite. Practically, the relocation of the workday to our homes for the nationwide lockdown was smooth if not somewhat surreal. We had not long returned from NNZ’s Council meeting in Christchurch and experienced the wairua of mana wāhine as part of the launch of Netball’s new future – Poipoia. So it was with that lens that we saw the resilient spirit of mana wāhine in action as the Netball South team responded to the conditions of lockdown. Barriers around confidence using technology to connect melted away as our programme leads took their youth, junior, coach and umpire connections and development opportunities to the digital airways.

As the lockdown restrictions lifted in stages, our team kept contact with their Centres as they worked through the many impacts and scenarios. The work of Centres to organise competitions in innovative new formats was outstanding and truly reflected the necessity of thinking outside the square. In the South, 92 percent of players returned to competitions for 100 percent of our Centres as they ran 95 percent of their grade categories.

For our flagship Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel, the road was not easy. We were jubilant to hear the news that the ANZ Premiership would go ahead and willing to travel six hours each way to Auckland for eight weekends in a row in order to compete. But there was no precedent to help us understand the toll it would take. So, we are very proud we were competitive despite two seasonending injuries to our shooters and a gruelling schedule of travel.

In the 2020 financial year we will post a surplus for the fifth year in a row. It will take us out of negative equity for the first time in our eight-year history. This result would not have been possible without the hard work of the Netball South team, NNZ and the financial support from the Government during COVID-19. Steel took significant financial hits to ticketing revenue, while also reducing membership affiliation fees by a minimum of 50 percent in order to support Centres with their adapted and shortened competitions. Our heroes are our Steel whānau of sponsors and funders, thanks to their unflinching support.

It was an extraordinary year when the wairua of Netball’s mana wāhine did not fade but instead grew stronger in adversity. The team at Netball South thank NNZ, the Government and the South Netball communities for their vital efforts in keeping our local game alive.