Welcome to our first WBOP Coach Newsletter update — a space to celebrate coaching success, share learning opportunities, and keep our coaching community connected, informed, and inspired throughout the season.

Spotlight on futureFERNS Training & Delivery Across the Zone

In February WBOP Zone hosted a fantastic futureFERNS Training Day in Matamata for Coach Developers and Junior Coordinators. The purpose of the day was to build confidence and clarity around the futureFERNS philosophy, strengthen workshop delivery skills, and create opportunities for shared learning, discussion, and connection.

It was a practical, hands-on and energising day that supported participants to confidently deliver workshops, deepen their understanding, and positively influence the experiences of our youngest netballers.

Thank you to our fabulous facilitators Karen Aulelio (Mercury Bay), Paula Vickers (Tauranga) and Sam (Netball Smart) for leading such a valuable day, a special thank you to Marama Tahapehi (Tokoroa) for opening our day and to all attendees for their participation, contributions, and commitment to their important roles within their centres.

Following the futureFERNS training, Aimee Te Whata (WBOP Zone Participation Lead) and I enjoyed a road trip to Rotorua to join Jacinta Church and Rochelle Bourke to co-deliver the futureFERNS Year 1–8 workshops. It was an awesome afternoon filled with passionate and enthusiastic coaches ready to get their seasons underway.

Next, Karen, Aimee and I facilitated three online futureFERNS workshops across three evenings, covering Years 1–8 again. These sessions provided a valuable option for coaches to upskill and be well prepared for their futureFERNS programmes.

Aimee and I then headed to Hauraki Netball Centre to join Hillary Hodges and Fiona Hitchcock, who once again delivered all workshops to another enthusiastic group of coaches. A highlight was having a large group of children of varying ages and abilities involved in this session, allowing coaches to experience “live” coaching in a practical environment.

Keep an eye out for where we are heading to next — come and say hello or get in touch if you would like us to visit your centre.

Centre Highlights

Netball Rotorua Centre
Netball Rotorua have been smashing out the coaching workshops this season. Coach Developers Kath Holmes and Rochelle Bourke have hosted nine CCA1 workshops, enabling four coaches to complete their Netball NZ Community Coach Award 1.

A huge congratulations to these coaches for their commitment to learning and developing their coaching capability: 

• Sarah Andrews (Netball NZ Community Coach Award 1)
• Eliotte Bourke-Palmer (Netball NZ Community Coach Award 1)
• Marise Daniels (Netball NZ Community Coach Award 1)
• Monica Campbell (Netball NZ Community Coach Award 1)

Thank you to Kath and Rochelle for creating a fun and safe learning environment for coaches.

Tauranga Netball Centre
Paula Vickers has been busy delivering futureFERNS and CCA1 workshops, while also supporting coaches and athletes through Tauranga’s Player Development Programmes (PDPs).

Investing in coach development and then utilising those coaches within PDP environments is a fantastic way to create quality learning experiences for athletes while also growing coaching capability. PDPs play an important role in supporting athlete skill development, confidence, game understanding, and creating future pathways in netball.

WBOP Zone Coach Learning & Development Calendar

This calendar provides an overview of upcoming coach learning and development opportunities across the WBOP Zone.

It includes key workshop dates and opportunities for coaches to plan ahead, register early, and continue their development throughout the season.

We encourage centres to share these opportunities widely and support coaches to engage in learning that builds confidence, capability, and connection.

WBOP Zone Event Calendar

https://www.netballwbop.co.nz/wbop/participation/tournaments-and-events.html

Follow Us on Facebook

Stay up to date with upcoming opportunities, workshops, and coaching stories across the zone.

Netball Waikato Bay of Plenty
https://www.facebook.com/nwbopzone 

WBOP Coach Development
https://www.facebook.com/NWBOPCoachDevelopment/ 

Netball NZ TIPU Series 2026 – Learning Together

Netball NZ is offering online interactive hui’s for Coaches, Umpires and Coach Developers. These sessions provide valuable learning environments designed to build understanding and capability across community netball.

Upcoming Hui’s:

• Change Management – Making Change Work for You

          Change is everywhere — but how do we lead it well?

• Developing Leaders Panel Discussion

          What does it really take to develop strong, confident leaders?

• Real Talk

          An honest and open conversation about the realities of leadership, development, and growth.

For dates and more details Register here:
https://www.sporty.co.nz/viewform/507658

National Record of Learning Update

From June, Netball will be moving to a new Record of Learning system using Sport Tutor.

The Record of Learning is a live digital platform that captures all netball coaches across every stage of their learning and development journey. It will replace the current reliance on Excel spreadsheets, which can be difficult to keep up to date, inconsistent across Centres, and not easily accessible for coaches, Centres, or Zones.

This new system is designed to create one clear, shared view of coach development, improving accuracy, accessibility, and reporting at all levels.

What this means from June

• All Community Coach Award workshops (CCA1 & CCA2) will be registered and managed through Sport Tutor
• Workshop registrations, and online learning will be tracked automatically
• Coaches will be able to see their live learning pathway, including what they’ve completed and what is still to come
• Centres and Zones will have real time visibility of their coaches’ learning pathways, with up to date information available for reporting and oversight, all in one place

System setup and support

• Workshop templates for CCA1 and CCA2 are already set up in Sport Tutor to ensure consistency nationwide

Sport Waikato Online Positive Vibes Only Webinar’s

Sport Waikato are asking clubs, schools, coaches, managers, whanau, and supporters to engage in a shared 30-minute PVO webinar as a baseline commitment to raising the standard across sports. Please share and encourage your participants to attend.

Aim:

• Create environments that keep participants coming back 
• Strengthen and retain volunteers, officials, and referees/umpires 
• Align behaviours across our sport to reflect our values 

FREE 30-minute PVO Webinar. Listen in. Contribute if you want. Be part of the movement.

Click the links to register:

• Thursday 30 April, 12pm (Noon): https://shorturl.at/Jcd2S 
• Thursday 30 April 7pm: https://shorturl.at/Xe0vB 
• Monday 11 May 7pm: https://shorturl.at/DqYrO 
• Monday 18 May, 12pm (Noon): https://shorturl.at/37HYr 
• Monday 18 May 7pm: https://shorturl.at/RLjhk 

Article by: Kim Hunt, WBOP Zone Coach Lead
Article added: Thursday 23 April 2026