World Netball Awards
Acknowledgements
Long-serving Netball volunteers honoured. Yvonne Willering and Ruth Aitken, two outstanding New Zealand Netball figures, were honoured with service awards from World Netball (formerly International Netball Federation) in July.
Yvonne Willering
The service awards recognise the pair’s immense contribution to the sport, both in New Zealand and globally.
Zealand and the world, where she is frequently called on to guide players, coaches and administrators.
number of coaches in New Zealand. She was also a national selector for three years.
Yvonne Willering
She’s been head coach of the Fiji Pearls, and has advised the national sides of South Africa, Australia and Vanuatu. Willering also worked with the Silver Ferns in their build-up towards 2019 World Cup glory.
The reach of her influence extends far beyond the shores of Aotearoa. Aitken spent three years coaching in Singapore, shaping the success and development of their national team.
Willering’s influence has left a significant impression worldwide. From a world champion player, to Silver Ferns coach, umpire to international commentator and advisor to aspiring Netball nations in all corners of the world, Willering’s unique relationship with Netball has spanned more than 50 years. First spotted at school for her height, reach and leap, the girl born in the Netherlands quickly became a dynamic defender. She would go on to play for Auckland and then New Zealand for a decade – playing at three World Cups, and winning the world title in 1979. Taking all she learnt on and off the court, Willering has poured that into an outstanding coaching career, including winning six national titles with Auckland. At the helm of the Silver Ferns, first as caretaker coach then head coach, she guided the Silver Ferns in 51 Tests, with 39 wins and one draw. Her unrivalled knowledge is still keenly sought after by teams throughout New
Willering continues to develop coaches across the globe as a member of the World Netball Coaching Advisory Panel.
Ruth Aitken Aitken has won the Netball World Cup for New Zealand both on the court and off it, but her impact on Netball has radiated throughout the world. A Silver Fern in the team that won the 1979 world tournament, Aitken went on to become one of New Zealand’s most successful sporting coaches. She guided the Silver Ferns for nine years, which included winning the 2003 Netball World Cup, back-to-back Commonwealth Games gold medals, and the 2009 World Netball Series.
She’s been a member of the World Netball Coaching Advisory Panel and continues to help NNZ with the Pacific Sporting Partnership, delivering Netball training to Fiji, the Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga. Aitken’s professionalism, integrity and meticulous approach have also been in demand with other sports. She is a member of the NZ Sports Tribunal, which rules on a range of sporting disputes. But her heart is never far from Netball. Aitken was a coach mentor for the successful New Zealand U21s at the 2017 Netball World Youth Cup, and she has previously been the performance manager in the Waikato Bay of Plenty Zone.
Moving into her role as NNZ’s coaching director, Aitken helped set a new direction for coaching at every level of the game, markedly increasing the
Robin Boldarin (Wellington), Angela Keenan (Hokitika), Martha Taru (Wellington), Julia Truesdale (Wellington), and Malia Venning (Hutt Valley) each received the Queen’s Service Medal (QSM) for their selfless contribution to Netball over many years in a variety of roles. Boldarin has been an integral part of Catholic Netball Wellington City Area for decades and is currently secretary of the Wellington Primary School Sports Association and is involved in running the Wellington Primary School annual tournament. She also acts as a convenor and an umpire at Tuesday and Saturday Netball games and tournaments. Keenan has made a major contribution to Netball in Hokitika in a variety of roles, including as president, secretary and coaching co-ordinator for Hokitika Netball Centre since 1984. She has co-ordinated coaching programmes for coaches, players and umpires for 20 years, attended the NNZ Championships as a senior coach and U15 coach, and was the Hokitika Centre’s secretary for five years. She organised the Netball summer fitness programme every summer for 15 years, which involved fundraising for equipment and venue costs, organising sessions, liaising with schools to promote the programme, and running the sessions themselves. Keenan has organised junior basketball for the Westland Basketball Association
Ruth Aitken
We live this game.
This year NNZ acknowledged five stalwarts who were recognised in the New Year’s Honours for their long and selfless service to Netball.
since 2006 and running for the Hokitika Athletic Club since 2004. She drove the development of a new sports complex at Westland High School and chaired the complex’s committee after local government funding was approved. A dynamic presence in Netball and the Pacific community, Taru has been President of the Pacific Islands Church (PIC) Netball Club since 2009 after first becoming involved with this famous Wellington club in 1977. She quickly transitioned from playing competitive Netball into coaching, mentoring and administration. Taru has been involved in the coaching and selection of representative teams for more than 30 years. She has coached a Cook Islands national team and has had multiple successes as a Wellington club coach at all levels and age groups. She is involved on an annual basis with the selection of school teams and representative teams from the NNL. Through the Wellington Cook Islands Sports Association, she has contributed to the planning and implementation of events like the New Zealand Cook Islands Sports and Cultural Federation Netball programme and player awards. Taru is a Netball Wellington Centre Life Member and was recognised as Netball Wellington Volunteer of the Year in 2018 and in 2019. She has also received an NNL Service Award. Volunteering as a school Netball coach and administrator from 1995 to 2015, Truesdale was involved in creating interschool competitions for Western-zoned Wellington primary schools, umpiring and running yearly umpiring workshops
for parents and Year 7 & 8 students while writing applications for funding to provide equipment for teams as well. She also co-ordinated the Fun Ferns, a developmental Netball programme for Year 3 children. Venning has been involved with the Tokelau Hutt Valley Sports and Culture Association for over 40 years. In 2007, she was elected as the National Netball Co-ordinator for Mafutaga Tupulaga Tokelau Niu Hila, the national Tokelau youth body, and was part of the group who helped establish Tokelau Netball in 2006. She was integral in the Tokelau representative Netball team competing at the South Pacific Games in Samoa and was cultural advisor for the Tokelau Netball team at the Pacific Mini Games in 2019. She has been a strong contributor to the Tokelau community and was a founding member and cultural advisor of the Tokelau Nurses and Health Workers Association of New Zealand. Venning is also secretary of Te Umiumiga a Tokelau Hutt Valley, which provides education programmes, support services and a community facility for Tokelau families. Netball New Zealand Annual Report 2021
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