More than 60 community coaches, umpire coaches, and Centre committees/staff members came together on Sunday 25th May for our annual Magic Experience event based around AVIS Magic and WAIBOP Matarau home games. Our objectives for the day were to say thank you to our guests for their mahi in our Zone as well as creating an environment for connection, learning, and inspiration. 2025 being our fifth consecutive year, this event continues to grow in popularity, energy and impact. 

Our day began with a delicious lunch at The Roaming Giant, where attendees from 16 different netball Centres gathered, reconnected and met new friends in a relaxed setting.

Once at Globox, our first speakers were special guests Sam Winders and Leigh Gibbs, who shared stories from their respective netball journeys, and wisdom on navigating change as a coach, leader and player. Their openness and humour sparked rich korero, which lead to great discussions about supporting players and different scenarios that coaches face.

We then entered the Arena for the WBOP Matarau v Mainland SHNL game, and following the game we reconvened to hear from WBOP Matarau Head Coach, Helena Hoult, and Assistant Coach, Rebecca Greenhalgh. They both provided a rare and valuable look behind the scenes into team preparation, strategy and post-match debriefs and reflections.

Throughout the day, more than 40 spot prizes were given out. These included coaching and NetballSmart resources, clipboards and notebooks, training equipment… most of which promoted the pink theme of Positive Vibes Only!

Next up it was time for the much anticipated AVIS Magic vs VIP Tactix match which delivered a fast paced and physical encounter that had us all on the edge of our seats. 

After the last whistle we rounded out the day with more powerful speakers sharing. Former WBOP SHNL Head Coach Te Aroha Keenan spoke to the group about the journey and process for WAIBOP Matarau establishing their new team name in 2025. Leigh Gibbs invited the group to discuss the considerations for coaches and teams with the new ‘2-point Shot’ in ANZP and SHNL competitions.

The final highlight was hearing from AVIS Magic Head Coach, Mary-Jane Araroa, and Assistant Coach Rebecca Gabel, their honesty and generosity with post-match reflections were a real gift. The day ended with WBOP Zone Coach Lead Kim Hunt and NNZ Community Coaching Manager Leigh Gibbs presenting Rebecca Gabel with her NNZ Performance Coach Award, an inspiring way to close a meaningful day.

The enthusiasm to learn, reflect, and connect with each other was incredible, and attendees brought lots of positive energy to cheer on our WBOP Matarau and AVIS Magic teams too!

Here are a couple of the many messages we received:

“Just wanted to say a huge thank you to you and the team, for an awesome day on Sunday. I loved it...and it was wonderful to be lucky enough to hear from Sammie, Leigh and Te Aroha...and then have the Magic and Matarau coaches come and share and be so vulnerable and honest. Again...thank you.”

“Thank you for a wonderful day, we all very much enjoyed the experience and would do it again in a heartbeat, it was so exciting. Although our teams didn't get the result we wanted, the girls certainly gave it their best, was a wow factor! Once again many thanks from us.”

A huge thank you to our family of funders BayTrust Coachforce, NZCT, Lion Foundation, Grassroots Trust, and Trust Waikato for your generous support of Netball WAIBOP Zone which enables us to deliver events and development opportunities such as this to our netball community.

Article by Kim Hunt, WBOP Zone Coach Lead, and Leigh Ashton, WBOP Zone Relationship Manager
Article added: Wednesday 28 May 2025