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Unique opportunity for promising players, coaches and umpires
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The Netball Central Zone (NCZ) hosted 58 eager netballers on Sunday trying out for three development spots in the 2016 Mojo Pulse squad.
Arena Manawatu became a hive of activity as 11 coaches and six emerging umpires from across the zone used the day to brush up their skills and build on their own development.
The coaches paired up to put the young hopefuls through their paces with a series of rigorous drills devised by Mojo Pulse Head Coach Tanya Dearns.
“The trial is a great opportunity for our coaches from across the zone to get together,” explained NCZ Coach Development Officer, Sandra Edge. “It’s for everybody to get that collective awareness of where our athletes are at. They were able to get a really good feel for the players in our zone, but also to get to know each other as fellow coaches.”
The trial is a new concept for NCZ and has provided an opportunity for zone coaches to learn to deal with managing players in an intense practical environment, as well as picking up new ideas from the activities that were put together.
Edge was also pleased that the coaches were asked to give feedback and be an additional set of eyes for Dearns. “One of the most valuable things to learn is how to identify good players. That’s what you do as coaches; you’re constantly assessing players.”
Linda Liggins, along with Anne Blomfield from Netball New Zealand’s (NNZ) Umpire Development Group, were also invited along to mentor the umpires who are part of the Umpire Emerging Talent Group.
Six emerging umpires took part in planning workshops and officiated the trial games alongside NNZ national umpire squad members. “We’ve taken the opportunity to include the emerging umpires and have them work together as a group and to get exposure to the play at this level,” said Liggins.
“We’re empowering them to be prepared for umpiring at different levels that they haven’t been exposed to.”
Netballers from across the NCZ spent an intense six hours putting their best feet forward. The players ranged in age from 14 to 29 and featured a mixture of secondary school girls and some of the more experienced ANZ Championship players.
Former Silver Fern and Netball Taranaki President, Joan Hodson, brought three secondary school players and a university student along to the trial, and believes there is a lot of talent within the zone. “Today is great because it’s an open trial, there’s lots of talent and it’s good for our zone. It’s terrific there’s just a huge amount of talent coming from this area,” she acknowledged.
NCZ U23 Head Coach, Yvette McCausland-Durie sees the trial as an important vehicle for zone-wide talent identification. “Today’s trials were as much about identification for our zone as they were for the Pulse. It’s about identifying players at the level below the ANZ Championship; those players who will become base players for the Pulse,” she said.
“The players selected will also gain valuable court time in the new national development league being proposed by Netball New Zealand for next season.”
