Mainland Talent Identification Workshop

As the season for selecting our school and club teams approaches, it’s the perfect time to reflect on the skills and qualities we want our players to develop. Choosing the right athletes for performance teams is both exciting and complex — and that’s exactly where we’re here to help.

Netball New Zealand’s NNZ Skills Guidelines provide a clear pathway of the technical skills expected from senior secondary players right through to the elite level. Building on this, we’ve created an easy-to-use continuum table that allows selectors to map where athletes sit across each skill area. We’ve also included additional considerations such as athlete habits, game understanding, and the ability to apply structures and strategies effectively.

At our first Talent Identification workshop, we were lucky to learn from two experts in the field: Adrianne Hayes, Silver Ferns selector, and Rachel Stead, Mainland and Lincoln University selector. They shared invaluable insights, practical tips, and thought‑provoking perspectives on the art of player selection — a task that is as important as it is challenging.

We will be sending out the workshop resources to all centres shortly, so you can integrate them into your own netball environments and support high‑quality, consistent talent identification across our region.

Please get in contact if you have any further questions or queries regarding selecting / talent identification

Jane.WF@mainlandnetball.co.nz

Article added: Wednesday 11 February 2026