Congratulations to our Mainland players who were selected to attend the South Island, National Development Camp 2024. The National Development Camp is the first step in Netball New Zealand’s Pathway journey. The focus is to educate, grow, and challenge players, enhancing individual skillsets, and provide insights into the expectations of a performance netballer.  

The aim is to help players navigate their path and remain in Netball for ten plus years, whether this leads to the ANZ Premiership, or New Zealand U21’s depending on individual commitment to learning and understanding the expectations at each playing level. A focus on the following going forward, will support the development of our youth players. 

Athlete Habits: Having a good athlete mindset - Nutrition, training, recovery, compliance. How players conduct themselves on and off the court.  

Training Intensity: How you maximise your training efforts to achieve the best results.  

Transition to different environments: How you adapt and excel in various programs, including school, representative, and club teams, while maintaining consistent standards. 

For the first time alongside this event the Community Coaching Team led by Leigh Gibbs, facilitated a group of observation coaches from both the Mainland and South Zones to develop alongside the players and lead coaches. It was an opportunity for coaches to work through observation techniques, identify how fundamental skills are key in developing players, and a chance to make wider coaching connections. A great initiative that we hope to continue to offer in the future – it has been referenced to a ‘player's pre-season for coaches’! 

Article added: Monday 29 January 2024