'A good coach can change a game. A great coach can change a life.’

These words by John Wooden, American basketball coach and player, beautifully express the reason I love to coach netball. Only 13-years-old when I guided my team of Under 10’s to their first grand final, I continued to coach throughout, and beyond, my playing career. Coaching has taught me so much - at every age and every stage.

A Junior Coaching Juniors

I fell in love with playing netball after receiving my first Best and Fairest trophy back in 1987. As the seasons went on, my netball passion grew, and I often spent whole weekends at the courts with my local club team or representative side.

My Under 10s were hard-working little sponges. By drilling the fundamentals and teaching centre pass systems, this enthusiastic team made it to the finals, where I first encountered the need to select my team based on skill rather than sharing equal court time between players. A daunting task for a 13-year-old, I decided to hold an open team meeting to discuss our options. All my players voted to ‘play to win’ which gave me, as a young coach, the unique opportunity to manage the emotions and expectations of the players and their parents.

Perfecting My Coaching Skills

During university, while also playing in the National League, I spent two years as a ‘Mentor Coach, heading up the Melbourne division of Perth-based health promotion company, Sports Challenge. Guiding ‘at risk’ school students towards improved self-esteem through a focus on preparation-for-life skills, I became proficient in leading activities to strengthen problem solving, positive communication, conflict-resolution, teamwork, and goal setting skills. Quickly developing rapport with my mentees was key to building trust, a skill that was particularly helpful when I worked in an International School and a Juvenile Boys Detention Centre in Singapore.

As an elite athlete within the Victorian Institute of Sport netball program, I was engaged as a guest speaker through their ‘Sportspersons In Schools’ program to deliver motivational and inspirational presentations to large groups of students – often graduates or those in a sporting academy. Never one to write down my speeches, I always found it easy to speak from the heart about the ups and downs of an athlete’s journey, and the dedication, hard work and sacrifice necessary to become elite. 

This role taught me to relate sporting experiences to my world to show the distinct correlation that qualities such as commitment, loyalty and resilience bring to everyday life. 

Good time management, prioritisation, visualisation, and goal setting in sport can be applied to so many other aspects of living.

It became natural for me to pass this knowledge, and these skills, on to the students I worked with and coached.

Coaching With The Best

During my university years, I was unbelievably fortunate to have Gillian Lee, (one of Australia’s highest accredited coaches and my 21 & Under Victorian coach), suggest I assist in her business, The Netball Zone. Working closely together to deliver her sessions, Gillian’s techniques to break down skills and perfect the basics helped me learn to be very explicit when teaching the intricacies and techniques of fundamental and specialist netball skills.

Coached By The Best