St Nicholas Netball Club 2024 Senior Coaches 

Meet our Senior Coaches for 2024!

A Team - Premier 2
Sarah Martyn 

I have been with St Nic's since 2006 as a player, coach and committee member.  I have played club netball up to Premier Grade, and then went on to play in Canterbury NPC teams.  Outside of this, I have had great experiences playing in Mixed Indoor netball teams, including playing for the NZ Indoor Women's team in a 2009 Trans-Tasman series against Australia.

My coaching history with St Nic's has been with the B, C, U17s and U15s teams, along with various other Mens teams.  One of my most rewarding memories is taking the role with the Christchurch Mens A team through their Nationals campaign in 2019.

I enjoy coaching and am privileged to have the opportunity to "pay it forward" - there have been many coaches who have invested time and effort into me as a player, contributing to growth and development, and I wish to do the same as best as I can, for our St Nic's players in this 2024 season.

B Team - Senior 1

Liana Porter

I was at the netball courts every Saturday watching my mum. Mum was an amazing shooter which is quite ironic that her daughter took up playing at the opposite end. When I first got the opportunity to take the court, my mother wasn't quite sure it would be the sport for me.. let's just say it took a while for me to grow into the sport. I was never selected for A teams until High School where I was the youngest person selected to play for the Hawera High School Senior A team. My mum never missed my games and her support was what got me to playing at senior level.

I have played club netball in Premier Grade and have represented Mid-Canterbury. I have also been part of Mixed Netball having represented Canterbury and North Harbour which I have been fortunate enough to come away with 2 mixed titles. Of all the things I have been part of in my life, netball has been my constant and the people I have got to play the sport with has been the reason I continued.

I love the game and being part of a team. Netball has given me skills and life-long friendships. Now is my opportunity to give back to a sport that has given me so much. I have been very privileged in my netball career to have had amazing coaches who have supported me on my netball journey and I hope I can give someone half of what they have given me. Thanks to St Nicholas netball for giving me the opportunity to add another notch on my netball belt. It is a club filled with amazing people who do so much mahi in the background. The 2024 season is going to be an epic one for us!

C Team - Senior Reserve 1 

Jo Utting

I've been involved with netball since before I could play, meaning I was a sideline child born with two very sporty parents.

I've been a member of St Nicholas Netball club for over 25 years and have coached within the club for approximately 15 of those years.  I started coaching aged grades progressing through to Senior Club.

I have also coached and played on the North Shore, Auckland for Shore Rovers for 20 years, coaching Senior teams during this time.  

I've enjoyed the winning moments with numerous teams, but what I enjoy most is seeing players and the team excel and grow improving their skill sets and trying out new ideas.  

Netball is a great team sport, I believe; a happy team with great unity, respect for each other and their opposition, irrespective of age or experience, plays well together and will work hard for each other.  Therefore I focus a lot on team connections through court and working on individuals strengths that work best for the team.

I'm very excited about the season ahead.

D Team - Senior Reserve 2

Gemma Harris

Born and raised in Christchurch, I have been involved in Netball for as long as I can remember. Previously I played as a defender, but since facing injury at the start of 2018 season, I picked up coaching to stay involved in the sport. Absolutely loving it I continued to coach, going to coach development sessions, achieving NNZ's CCA 1 & 2. I have coached across Wednesday Secondary School Sport, Saturday Club Competition, South Island Secondary Schools and Representative environment's. I'm someone who will continue to seek development and thrives for a challenge.