The Zones Netball Northern Netball Waikato Bay of Plenty Netball Central Netball Mainland Netball South

It’s been a very rewarding and enjoyable year for Northern Zone, with many collaborations between the Zone team and our wonderfully energetic Centre volunteers and staff helping our Centres make Netball even more accessible.

To engage a wider audience playing Netball, our Far North Coach Development Officer engaged with the local Primary Health Organisation to provide opportunities for older participants to play walking Netball. The programme has been a huge success with participants enjoying the opportunity to be active in a game they love. Netball Northern Zone is supporting Netball Centres in Auckland and Northland to implement walking Netball as it has huge appeal to engage past or retired Netballers and new participants.

Gabby Wright from Howick Pakuranga Netball Club (HPNC) and a student of Pakuranga College has taken up umpiring so that she can still be involved in the game she loves. Gabbyhas been through so much in the last two years, and with real grit and determination, has become HPNC’s first umpire in a wheelchair and possibly the firstin the country. Gabby was able to move well from sideline to goal and had an impressive change of direction. We can’t wait to see Gabby take the next step in her umpiring career.

Mangonui Netball Centre have taken a very personal approach to addressing sideline behaviour. They have put up posters featuring their own people to let their Netball community know how much they value their volunteers. The posters provide a useful reminder of the people who can be hurt by poor sideline behavior and provide a very personal connection to being a good sport in and around the Netball whānau.

As part of promoting Good Sports, Whangarei Netball Centre’s Good Sports Champion Paul Scherf, a third-year AUT Sport and Recreation degree student, observed the Centre’s whānau and rewarded them for being good role models either through coaching, supporting on the sideline, umpiring, or through playing the game. Spot prizes were kindlydonated by Smiths Sports Shoes, Whangarei. Candice Papuni from Wahine Toa was caught wearing her big smile every

Umpire Gabby Wright, from Howick Pakuranga Netball Club

Saturday this season and was a great role model to ourtamariki. Every week, Candice could be seen supporting our Junior Ferns, then playing in the seniors herself. Netball Waitākere also appointed a Good Sports Ambassador for Year 5, 6, 7 and 8 teams. Before every game the nominated Ambassador from every team collected a sash and they were expected to model good sideline behavior and manage their supporters’ sideline behavior. This includes all team management.

The Muffin Break Year 7 & 8 Player Development Programme (PDP) provided more opportunities to a broader base of players. The programme included physical skill and tactical development through diverse sporting approaches, such as athlete development, integrated neuromuscular development and stage specific strength activities. Waiuku Netball Centre also provided coaching opportunities alongside the programme, and coaches relished the opportunity to contribute.

Auckland Netball ran a mini-tournamentfor 80 keen Netballers where each team was coached by a member of the Northern Comets or Northern Marvels (Beko Netball League teams). The mini-tournament culminated in prizes for ‘Best Spirit’ and ‘Most Hard-working’ players from each team.

Papakura Netball Centre hosted their firstsession of the PDP with 21 enthusiastic Year 7 and Year 8 girls. The session was delivered by three local coaches and a member of the Northern Comets Beko Netball League team.

At Howick Pakuranga Netball Centre, Paulette Devane, the Centre’s new Junior Development Officer, led over 62 participants and nine coaches through the programme come rain or shine, and rain it did, but that didn’t stop lots of smiles, laughter and learning.

BOARD MEMBERS: Murray Lockwood (Chair), Sue Brewster (Deputy Chair), Dianne Williams, Mary Gardiner, Lynette Gubb, David Ronaldson, Raewyn Henry, Brad Walker STAFF: Dianne Williams (Acting Chief Executive), Chris Tennant (Operations Manager), Trish Harkins (Admin and Finance), Karyne Ross (Community Netball Manager), Chonaire Huriwai (Coach Lead – Auckland), Irene Gubb (Junior Development Officer – North), Melanie Kemp (NetballSmart Officer), Rhonda Martin-Raharuhi (Coach Officer – Far North), Sharleen Morrell (Umpire Development Officer – P/T), Sophie Tua (Coach and Umpire Officer – North), Suzie Belcher (NetballSmart Officer), Tania Heap (Coach Lead), Tracey Spencer (Junior Development Officer – Auckland), Trina Henare (Team Leader – North), Vicki Morgan (Team Leader – Auckland), Zak Middleton (Project Co-ordinator - Leadership), Tia Winikerei (Performance Manager), Helene Wilson (Mystics Head Coach), Meghan Robinson (Team Operations Manager) Anita Coy-Macken (Community Manager, until May), Karyne Ross (Community Manager, commenced June) CENTRES: Mangonui, Kerikeri, Bay of Islands, Northern Wairoa, Whangarei, Rodney, Kaipara, Hibiscus Coast, Waitākere, North Harbour, Auckland, Mangere-Otahuhu, Howick Pakuranga, Manurewa, Papakura, Pukekohe, Waiuku

For the Waikato Bay of Plenty (WBOP) Zone, 2019 was all about growth and development, after steadying the ship in 2018.

This year saw an increase of 2.5 percent in our player numbers and an increase in the number of coaches and umpires being trained and awarded their qualifications. We also saw an increase in grant and commercial income. The amount, depth and quality of interaction with our Netball Centres continued to improve. Another major highlight at a grassroots level, was having close to 400 secondary school students across the Zone participate in our umpiring and coaching training programmes.

The Splice Construction Magic placed fourth in the 2019 ANZ Premiership. Though we had some outstanding performances, we were offset by a few disappointing ones, which made for a frustrating season for new head coach, Amigene Metcalfe, and assistant coach, Mary-Jane Araroa. This year was a memorable one with WBOP celebrating 20 years of the combined WBOP Magic team.

We were delighted to welcome a new naming rights sponsor for the team. Graeme and Diane Rush of Splice Construction are magnificent supporters of Waikato sport, and we are proud to have them as lead partner in our sponsorship family. Middle Earth returned to Claudelands Arena, with the second edition of the Hobbiton Movie Set Cup, which doubled as Casey Kopua’s final home game for Magic after 17 seasons. It was a fitting end to an incredible career with Magic as the team put on one of their best performances in front of a raucous crowd of nearly 3000 fans. The partnership with Hobbiton Movie Set continues to grow, and they joined us in celebrating the organisation’s win at the 2019 Westpac Waikato Business Awards, in the Innovation category.

At Silver Ferns level, Casey Kopua and Samantha Sinclair made the squad for the Northern Quad Series, with Casey going on to play a key role in the Netball World Cup victory, being named as Most Valuable Player in the final. Casey bowed out of her illustrious playing career with the one victory that had eluded her. Congratulations Mana Wahine! Later in the year, Sam Sinclair and Monica Falkner were selected for NZA, along with new 2020 signings Holly Fowler and Whitney

Souness, with Whitney adding to her Silver Ferns caps in the second Constellation Cup Test.

The Beko Netball League (BNL) was again a highlight for us, with WBOP making it to back-to-back finals. Although the final saw another loss to Central Manawa, the margin was closer than 2018, indicating that the team has made progress under head coach, Rebecca Gabel and assistant coach, Sonya Noble. Congratulations to WBOP co-captain, Ali Wilshier, for being named Beko Netball League Player of the Year.

The Zone’s player performance pathway ‘Magic in the Making’ is now showing the rewards for a consistent and high-quality programme, with high rates of athlete transition through the pathway levels as our emerging talent continues to grow and develop. Athletes who started in our Level 1 (U17) programme two to three years ago are now in our BNL squad, with the next step of Magic within reach.

In accordance with the changes to the Netball NZ age-group competitions, the Zone changed its age criteria to U18 and U16 and placed athletes into those squads for the 2020 programme.

Another significant highlight of the year was the performance of St Peter’s School, Cambridge. A stunning week at the Fuji Xerox NZSS Netball Champs saw them crowned national champions, to go with their second place at UNISS. Another five Zone schools finished in the top 20 of UNISS A-Grade (Hamilton Girls, St Paul’s, Trident, Tauranga Girls and Waikato Diocesan). National Age-Group Championships saw Trust Waikato Hamilton City finish third and Eastern Waikato finish ninth at Netball NZ U19 Champs, and Eastern BOP finish third and Hamilton City A finish eighth at Netball NZ U17 Champs.

The Netball WBOP and Magic Awards had its second year, with a 15 percent increase in attendance and a wait list of over 30 people. It’s quickly become the celebration of Zone-wide Netball that everyone wants to attend.

The year was tinged with sadness with the passing of Netball legend Monica Leggat (see page 72). Netball in the WBOP Zone will never be the same. We miss you Mons.

BOARD MEMBERS: Dr Bev Edlin (Chair), Dr Wayne Beilby, Bryan Graham, Julie-Ann Hallett, Carole Maddix (stepped down in March to become Netball NZ President), Dr Judy Moreland, Karyn Vincent, Patrice Wynen STAFF: Rohan West (CEO), Ruth Aitken (High Performance Manager), Alison Wieringa (Community Netball Manager), Amigene Metcalfe (Magic Head Coach), Ashley Livingstone (Events and Communications Lead), Rachel Andrews (Finance and Funding Administrator), Grant Metcalfe (Commercial Manager – contractor), Natalie Kelly (Events Administrator), Isabel Buckhurst (Events and Communications Officer, November onwards – shared role with Northern Districts Cricket), Kim Hunt (Coach Lead), Jan Teesdale (Umpire Lead), Natasha Mtakwa (Junior and Youth Lead), Amanda Foster (NetballSmart Officer, January to October), Jenne Jones-Poole (NetballSmart Officer, December onwards), Hayley Saunders (Junior Development Officer and NetballSmart Officer, March to October), Trudi Kemp (Coach Development Officer, January to May), Helena Hoult (Coach Development Officer, June onwards), Kim Higgie (Umpire Development Officer), Hikitia Gallagher (Umpire Development Officer), Rachel Davis (Coach Development Officer and Player Pathway Lead), Jo Martin (Junior Development Officer), Anita Lafferty (Community Netball Administrator) MAGIC STAFF: Amigene Metcalfe (Head Coach), Mary-Jane Araroa (Assistant Coach), Mandy Souchon (Manager), Barrie Jennings (Strength and Conditioning Lead), Clarke Mackenzie (Physiotherapist), Jako Bekker (Performance Analyst) CENTRES: Cambridge, Eastern Waikato , Gisborne, Trust Waikato Hamilton City, Harbourside, Hauraki Plains, Kawerau, Trustpower Maniapoto, Trustpower Otorohanga, Trustpower Taumarunui, Matamata, Mercury Bay, Morrinsville, Opotiki, Paeroa, Putaruru, Rotorua, Taupo, Te Aroha, Paperplus Te Awamutu, Te Puke, Thames, Tokoroa, Waihi, Whakatane

It was another great year for Netball Central Zone with lots of achievements on and off the court.

The Cadbury Volunteer Awards shone a light on volunteer champions who have helped build and nurture Netball communities and participants throughout the year. We have thousands of volunteers in Netball Central Zone and it was fantastic to see two in particular highlighted.

This year Sonia Kupuri (Kapi Mana and Wellington) and Parengaio Huhu (Taranaki) were recognised with awards for their dedication and commitment to Netball, with Sonia taking home the Cadbury Volunteer Official of the Year and Parengaio taking the Cadbury Community Volunteer Champion of the Year.

In her first year as a part-time Zone Umpire Lead, Ann Hay hit the ground running within our Zone, working closely with our Centres to build capability. We have had numerous success in the Zone accreditation and New Zealand accreditation, with fantastic representation across all tournaments including the ANZ Premiership. Special mention goes to Gareth Fowler, Joshua Bowring and Angela Armstrong-Lush who umpired at the Netball World Cup in Liverpool.

We have made significant leaps in the PCQ coaching framework with three new coaches being accredited – congratulations to Sandra Edge, Anna Andrews-Tasola and Jaqua Heddle. We also had eight coaches complete CCQ with seven of these coaches being accepted into the PCQ programme for 2020.

Congratulations to all the Central teams that competed in the Netball NZ U19 and U17 Champs this year. Netball Wellington Centre U19 won the national title, Netball Manawatu came in eighth and Netball Hutt Valley Centre finished 17th respectively. The Netball NZ U17 Champs were held in Auckland with a total of 10 teams from the Zone represented. Furthermore, our Centres achieved top five finishes in A, B and C grades at the Envirowaste U15 North Island Championships in Taranaki.

The New Zealand Secondary School Squad was announced in February with five players from the Zone selected for this

squad: Brody Manson (Netball Manawatu), Paris Lokotui (Netball Wellington), Parris Mason (Netball Manawatu), Rochelle Fourie (Netball Manawatu), Saviour Tui (Netball Wellington).

The New Zealand Secondary School Team was selected in April to play against England in July and included Brody Manson (Netball Manawatu), Paris Lokotui (Netball Wellington), Parris Mason (Netball Manawatu), Saviour Tui (Netball Wellington).

The 2019 Central Manawa Beko Netball League team were the youngest in the competition, with an average age of 19, with a eight players returning from the successful 2018 team. Eight games were played with four home and four away, culminating with six wins, one loss and one draw in the regular season. This resulted in a top-two finish and a Grand Final appearance against Waikato Bay of Plenty. Central won the Grand Final 49- 46 in Christchurch – the fourth consecutive finals appearance, a first in the competition’s history, and a third consecutive national title in the Beko Netball League competition. Congratulations to Monalisa Groom who was named Most Valuable Player of the final and captain Renee Savai’inaea who was named Central Manawa Most Valuable Player of the Year.

The Te Wānanga o Raukawa Pulse had a thrilling year, making the Finals Series for the third year in a row and securing our second home Grand Final against the Northern Stars in Porirua. A win that was 10 years in the making for the Pulse franchise but one that was greatly received. National honours came fast for the team with Katrina Rore, Ameliaranne Ekenasio and Karin Burger all selected for the Silver Ferns Netball World Cup team. Additionally, Whitney Souness also took the court for the Silver Ferns during the Constellation Cup.

I would like to thank all Netball Central Zone staff, Centres and volunteers in our Zone as we continue to focus on our game by connecting our communities through our shared love of Netball.

BOARD MEMBERS: Carol Sanders (Chair), Scott Moran, Warrick Dent, Angela Abernethy, Leanne Walker, Fay Selby-Law, Charlie Howe, Oriwia Raureti STAFF: Fran Scholey (CEO), Stuart Savage (Community Manager), Irene van Dyk (Junior Development and Youth Lead), Tash Rowlands (Coach Development Lead), Ann Hay (Umpire Lead), Lee Smart followed by Carla van der Merwe (NetballSmart Development Officer), Waimarama Taumaunu (High Performance Director), Yvette McCausland-Durie (Pulse Head Coach), Sandra Edge (Pulse Assistant Coach), Jo Holmes (Pulse Operations and Team Manager), Vai Tuita’alili (Events Manager), Jane Hunt (Media Liaison), Pelesa Semu (Performance Manager and Beko Head Coach), Lenore Anderson (Finance Administrator), Tracey van den Eijkhoff (Accountant) CENTRES: Netball Taranaki, Taihape Netball Centre, Hawke’s Bay Netball, Dannevirke Netball Centre, Netball Whanganui, Rangitikei Netball Centre, Netball Manawatu, Netball Horowhenua, Netball Wairarapa, Netball Kapiti, Kapi Mana Netball Centre, Hutt Valley Netball, Netball Wellington Centre

This year was full of key learnings and challenges.

After such a strong year in 2018, when The Good Oil Tactix finished in the top three after the regular season, we were looking forward to going up another level in 2019. Unfortunately, in 2019 we were unlucky having two seasonending injuries to Temalisi Fakahokotau and Erikana Pedersen – with neither able to take part in the season.

However, we were still able to build on our performance week in and week out and we finished the season very strongly winning five games, the second highest amount of games won in Tactix history.

We finished the 2019 ANZP in fifth position and set a few new club records along the way:

• Biggest winning margin

Most goals in one quarter

Most wins at home

National honours were earned by several of our players:

• Silver Ferns: Kimiora Poi and Jane Watson

NZA and Cadbury Series: Kimiora Poi, Temalisi Fakahokotau, Ellie Bird

Silver Fern Development: Ellie Bird, Erikana Pedersen, Kimiora Poi

NZ Secondary Schools: Olivia Burnham

Our Hellers Beko Netball League team had a strong year, finishing third, and it is great to see some of these players progressing to our top team.

Across our Zone, the Community Team continued to develop stronger relationships with our 17 Netball Centres and schools. We increased the number of Coach Developers, Umpire Coaches and Umpire Coach Developers and player development programmes across the Zone, getting a good geographical spread. NetballSmart has been integrated into all workshops, and been a component of all tournaments, representative teams and Tactix games, alongside specific workshops in Centres, schools and clubs.

It was great to see 10 Netball Centres running the Muffin Break Year 7 & 8 Player Development Programme, with Selwyn Netball Centre having 70 participants taking part.

After the devastating Christchurch terror attack we were able to support the community by aiding in the development and delivery of a social Netball tournament alongside Canterbury Resilience Foundation, where over 80 participants took part in playing the game we love.

During the year, the Netball Mainland Zone Board undertook a major review of all aspects of the organisation finances and staffing structure. The Board believes the process will lead to a stronger and more resilient organisation. The input and support of Netball New Zealand throughout the review has been greatly appreciated. The organisational review has resulted in the CEO role being disestablished and replaced with two General Managers, one focused on community Netball and pathways and the second focusing on the performance arm and business of the sport. This structure will be in place as the organisation moves into 2020.

What a busy year for the Zone from the deep south! Some big rocks were shifted to grow the Zone’s capability in response to a brand-spanking new three-year strategic plan and the feedback of our most important stakeholders – our Centres.

Big rock number one – we revamped our organisational structure moving from traditional function-based roles to geographically focused Centre-centric roles. Instead of a Community Netball Manager and a Performance Manager trying to connect and achieve gains for all South Centres, we now have Netball Development Managers (NDM) positioned in the three key regions of Otago, Central Lakes and Southland, supporting three to four Centres rather than 10. It’s the Jerry Maguire theory. Fewer Centres, better care. So far, the response of Centres has been very positive, and NDMs have been able to get alongside most of them to deliver a higher quality level of planning support leading into the 2020 season. During the transition, we were very light on the ground causing a bit of a drought of Netball South support staff. However, with great thanks to our patient Centres we were able to get new key roles replaced midway through the season.

Big rock number two – we piloted the Membership Database project, bringing Sporty within reach of all 10 Centres and one junior Netball competition and getting close to 87 percent pick up of the South membership on a new online registration process in year one – an excellent result! Sportsground were fantastic to work with, and the new emerging developments are exciting for 2020. While helping clubs, schools and Centres bed-in the new online registration process, we also managed to sneak in some perks for members, offering a small selection of special offers for Steel games and using the coaches’ details to promote coach development opportunities. Likewise, by sending the link for Voice of the Participant directly to members, we were able to double our response rate. More South netties having their say. We love it! It’s a drop in the bucket of the value of the membership database to our members.

Big rock number three – a new South Island Senior Netball Tournament was staged in Dunedin in September 2019. A collaboration project between Mainland Zone and South

Zone, the tournament was designed to fill the void left when Nationals was dropped in 2016. Our Centres were strong on this. Their premier teams needed a representative fixture to show their talents, especially for those players no longer eligible for the Netball NZ U19 Champs. The tournament was won by a victorious nuggety Netball Eastern Southland Centre team. Centres are keen to see this tournament become a permanent fixture in the representative calendar.

It was great to see the Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel make the Final Series in the ANZ Premiership. While they fell in the Elimination Final, the thrills were far from over with three players – Gina Crampton, Shannon Saunders and Te Paea Selby-Rickit selected for the Silver Ferns team who so triumphantly took the Netball World Cup from under the noses of England and Australia. While our top players shone, our development players in the Southern Blast continue to thrive with two – Georgia Heffernan and Taneisha Fifita – earning their way into the 2020 Steel roster.

We congratulate Gina for going on to win the ANZ Premiership Player of the Year at the Netball Awards and are also very proud of our top international umpires, Jono Bredin and Kristie Simpson, who each won Official of the Year at their respective regional Sports Awards.

We look forward to another busy year in 2020 as we focus on consolidating the gains made in 2019 and powering up our social and online presence to share the inspirational story of Netball in the South.

BOARD MEMBERS: Paul Buckner (Chair), Adrienne Ensor, Dean Johnston, Alistair McKenzie, Kerry Seymour, Angee Shand, Colin Weatherall (NNZ Appointed) STAFF: Reinga Bloxham, Colleen Bond, Sonya Fleming, Gwen Harrop, Jess Huia (until December), Dayna Kaio, Jo Morrison (from August), Lana Morrison (from August), Carla O’Meara, Laura Overton (from December), Jan Proctor, Jo Ward, Lana Winders – CEO CENTRES: Central Otago, Central Southland, Dunedin, Eastern Southland, Invercargill, Menzies, North Otago, South Otago, Taieri Plains (Junior Netball Competition), Upper Clutha. Wakatipu