Netball New Zealand Board and Staff

Netball Waikato Bay of Plenty Netball Central

Netball Waikato Bay of Plenty (WBOP) are proud to support our communities to deliver positive experiences through Netball to over 21,000 players.

The 2021 year has seen a transition in the Netball WBOP Zone with the board requesting NNZ to take over the administration of the Zone.

A Centre Advisory Group (CAG) was created with representatives of the Netball Centres to advise NNZ and the Zone on what and how moving forward would look like. World Netball Vice President Shirley Hooper has been instrumental in leading the CAG. The strong engagement of this group has established a healthy collaborative environment for the future.

The changes in the Zone have involved many staff changes and we acknowledge and thank past staff members for their commitment and service. The appointment of Leanne Knox to the Netball Relationship Manager role, Kim Hunt as Coach Lead and the return of Natalie Kelly as the Community Projects Co-ordinator alongside Rachel, Jan and Jennie has enabled the development of a responsive and capable team.

A large majority of Netball Centres in the Zone were not able to complete their regular season due to the ongoing battle with COVID-19. However, some key events were still possible with successful performances from WBOP. Congratulations to the Celebration Box Netball NZ U18 Champs Bronze medallist – Hamilton City and to the runnersup in the Envirowaste North Island Junior Netball Champs U16 – Eastern BOP. Unfortunately, intermediate and secondary school students were not able to compete at the AIMS or UNISS events for a second year as both were cancelled.

The Community Netball team has used insights collected from the Netball Centres to ensure their needs are met. We have identified that the purpose of the Zone is to “support our communities to deliver positive experiences through Netball” and we will be focusing on the delivery of this vision, working with the 25 Centres in the Zone that deliver Netball to over 21,000 players and numerous others.

The ongoing support of several key funding partners is critical to ensuring the success of our work and we are grateful to Trust Waikato, Grassroots, Lion Foundation, Rotorua Energy Trusts, Sport Bay of Plenty, Gallagher Foundation and NZ Community Trust. Without this it would not be possible to for Netball to flourish and deliver so much to so many.

During 2021 the Community Netball team has focused on increasing the capacity and capability of our community to ensure everyone who wants to play Netball has the opportunity. The team focused on developing umpire coaches and coach developers across the region who are then able to support the needs of the coaches and umpires in their own Centres. This way of working supports the Poipoia locally led approach and creates sustainability within the Centres. We have been privileged to be supported by NNZ and ACC with NetballSmart to provide workshops and education on player welfare to ensure our Netballers are injury free and continue their love for the game. It was positive news for the Netball community to see the return of the ANZ Premiership and NNL. Thank you to Sonya Noble, coach of WBOP, for leading a campaign with a group of young women who benefited immensely from the exposure to this level of play. We also recognise the work and dedication of Amigene Metcalfe and Mandy Souchon, both of whom have completed their tenure with the Splice Construction Magic after several years.

At higher honours, congratulations to Sam Winders and Georgia Tong for their selection to the Silver Ferns for the Cadbury Netball Series (Taini Jamison Trophy). We’re very proud of you both, Sam for being appointed as captain for one of the games against the England Roses and Georgia for her debut as Silver Fern #180.

Also selected for national honours in the NZ U21 team were Georgie Edgecombe and Katie Te Ao. And WBOP had 14 young athletes named for the National Development Camp, an important step on the pathway for future selection.

We also had great success with our Zone umpires: congratulations to Tania Fink, selected as an umpire in the National Umpire Squad; Pam Clayton, National Convenor of Selectors and a Performance Reviewer; and Jan Teesdale, National Squad coach. Congratulations also to Ceri Hills, NNZ WBOP Watchlist Squad umpire coach and Wirihana Wilson, an umpire in this squad.

Thank you to everyone who provides Netball throughout the WBOP and Tairawhiti region. We are generously supported by the Centre committees, boards, staff and their coaches, technical officials and volunteers. Thank you to the players for loving the game and for being part of Netball’s legacy. Well, 2021 was set to be a new year off the back of a challenging 2020. We all managed to live the Kiwi summer relatively freely, and that was all set to continue for the 2021 season.

A huge sigh of relief came as our Netball Centres started their respective competitions and managed to provide opportunities for lots of fun, learning and laughter. It was awesome to see and hear the chatter at the Netball courts throughout our Zone. We are thankful for the ACC NetballSmart pilot of Activators within our Zone as they continue to inspire and engage directly within the community.

Netball Central Zone was pleased to be able to reduce its participation fee in 2021, a reduction that would either be retained at Centres or passed through to members. Either way, we were content that the decrease would be well received and used in a way to keep the Netball system sustainable.

We said haere rā to Irene van Dyk, who took up a position within NNZ. Irene’s enthusiastic and bubbly approach to everything she undertook within the Zone will be sadly missed but we know she left the junior programme in great stead.

Our Zone forum was one of many highlights for our staff. Having everyone in person and adapting quickly to Zooming in Taranaki allowed us to share and collaborate, embedding and deepening our understanding of Poipoia and how we bring this principle to life.

It was pleasing to have Centre and Zone umpire accreditation and New Zealand umpire accreditation; congratulations to those recipients. Congratulations also go to the following umpires with international appointments:

Constellation Cup: Josh Bowring, Gareth Fowler

Taini Jamison Trophy: Gareth Fowler, Angela Armstrong-Lush, Josh Bowring

Cadbury Netball Series: Angela Armstrong-Lush, Ken Metekingi The 2021 season was challenging, in which the Te Wānanga o Raukawa Pulse and Central Manawa teams, while earning disappointing final places in the ANZ Premiership and the National Netball League, learnt many lessons about preparation, resilience and managing change that will stand us in good stead in future years.

The season started on an optimistic note. We secured the services of highly regarded local coach Gail Parata, fresh from her successful tenure with Scotland’s national Netball team. Alongside her, we maintained a strong core of returning staff in our management team – assistant coach Pelesa Semu; team manager Jill Clapcott; and Nikki Lynch, our team physiotherapist, all returned for the 2021 season. Within the Central Manawa environment head coach Anna Andrews-Tasola, assistant coaches Emma Weenink and John Atkins all returned.

Despite uneven games throughout their respective competitions, there were some standout performances by individuals, which resulted in national selections for seven Pulse players and an Under 21 selection for Manawa newcomer Caitlyn O’Sullivan.

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank our partners for always standing beside us. We would also like to thank all Netball Central Zone board, staff, Centres and volunteers as we continue to focus on connecting and inspiring our communities through the love of Netball.