Coaching

This season Whangārei Netball Centre have been working to recognise their volunteers who play a crucial role by contributing their time, skills, and energy across the essential areas of netball.

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Congratulations to the Netball Northern Bench Officials and Umpires who were a part of the 2024 NetballSmart NNZ Open Championships.  It’s great to see the high calibre of those from our zone representing within this Championship.  

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Netball Waibop Pathways team are very excited to name the invitees to our Magic in the Making Advance camp on 19 October.

After viewing and testing 94 of our top secondary school players across three different cluster development sessions we are pleased to invite 21 players to an extra development opportunity and name 7 reserve players:

Shooters

Midcourters

Defence

Advance Camp Reserve Players

* Subject to injury/Bronco clearance

The Northland Development Day was recently held by Netball Northern, bringing together coaches and players for a day dedicated to skill enhancement and collaboration.

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Netball Mainland Pathways

We have three distinct Pathway age categories:

• Year 11 & 12
• Year 13
• Open Age

Each pathway offers a unique route, but all share the same goal: to help players progress through the New Zealand Pathway and work towards the Silver Ferns. We begin the pathway at Year 11, as this is the earliest age at which players can start on the Netball NZ Pathway. Take a look at the different age categories below for more details on each pathway's plan. Please note: all players can and will take different pathways to the top.

Y11 & Y12

In late September, we host the Mainland Netball (MN) Advanced Camp, providing 30-50 of Mainland region's top players the chance to develop their skills and compete for 15 spots in the National Development Camp (NDC), run by Netball NZ.

Throughout the regular netball season, our Centre Talent Spotters, across our 16 centres actively monitor games, identifying and evaluating standout players. In addition to them, we have a specialized Talent Spotting Panel. The Panels role involves observing nominated players from the Centre spotters, as well as tracking all players in top teams. They attend Representative tournaments, SISS, and NZSS to assess player performance.

The Advanced Camp runs in September or October each year. The camp includes fitness testing, skill development, educational workshops, gameplay, guest appearances from Netball Smart and speakers from Trident Homes Tactix. The focus for the camp is around education and upskilling for the athletes.

From this camp, our talent spotting panel will select 15 players to attend Netball NZ NDC. These selected athletes will then continue their journey on the Netball NZ pathway. Players invited to the Advanced Camp will be notified via email.

NDC selections are announced by Netball New Zealand in November.

Y11 and Y12 players are also eligible to make the NZ Secondary School (NZSS) team. The NZ talent spotting panel watches them throughout the season.

Mainland PATHWAY = School/ Club games – SISS/ NZSS – U16/ U18 reps – NM Advanced Camp

Netball NZ PATHWAY = NDC – NZSS team – NZ U21’s team – NZ Silver Ferns

Y13

Our Year 13 players will finish their school games this year, followed by the chance for selection to the New Zealand Secondary Schools (NZSS) team, managed by Netball New Zealand (NNZ).

Throughout the year our TS panel watches out Y13 players, and mid-way through the year helps our top players with scholarships – Lincoln Uni and University of Canterbury.

Our Y13 leavers are encouraged to attend the NNL trials. These trials are not only to determine the NNL team and NNL training partners, but they are also the trials for the Mainland Aspiring Athletes Programme (MAAP). Applications to be a part of the MAAP squad will be available early in the year.

There are two parts to MAAP – Gold and Silver squad. Our Silver Squad is designed for players in the first or second year out of school and bridges the gap between leaving school and making the NNL team. The sole focus of MAAP is to look after the athlete. We offer strength and conditioning sessions, individual and small group skills sessions, mental skills workshops, nutrition workshops and individual nutrition sessions. There is a 2-year max period in the Silver squad, before moving into the gold squad, which is made up of NNL players and NNL training partners (not including Tactix players, or Tactix training partners).

MAAP offers a pathway for players in the Pre-High-Performance space to continue their development and enhance their skill sets.

Mainland PATHWAY = School/ Club games – SISS/ NZSS – U18 reps – NNL Trials – MAAP (Gold or Silver Squad)

Netball NZ PATHWAY = NZSS team – NZ U21’s team – NZ Development/ A’s - NZ Silver Ferns

Open Age

Early in the new year we conduct trials for our NNL team for the upcoming NNL season. From these trials, we finalize a squad of 10-12 players, along with 2 x Training Partners, and 3 x apprentice players.

The NNL team, NNL training partners and NNL apprentice players are supported by a Strength and Conditioning coach who oversees their fitness during the pre-season and throughout the season. They also take part in workshops focused on mental skills and nutrition, with their overall well-being managed by the Players Association.

Majority of these players are also part of the MAAP – Gold Squad. The sole focus of MAAP is to look after the athlete. We offer strength and conditioning sessions, individual and small group skills sessions, mental skills workshops, nutrition workshops and individual nutrition sessions. There is a 3-year max period in the ‘gold’ squad, before ideally moving into the High-performance Tactix space.

MAAP offers a pathway for players in the Pre-High-Performance space to continue their development and enhance their skill sets.

Mainland PATHWAY = Club games – MAAP (Gold or Silver Squad) – NNL Training Partners / Apprentice Players – NNL Team – Trident Homes Tactix

NNZ PATHWAY = NZ U21’s team – NZ Development Squad – NZ A’s – NZ Silver Ferns

Please see the 2025 Calander of Activities for players with the different competitions and camps available to players throughout the year.

Community Coaching Support Network

With 16 netball centres across Netball Northern Zone, registering around 44,000 players, community netball involves a large number of coaches, all with varying levels of knowledge and experience.

We support our netball centres to provide learning and development opportunities for coaches and encourage them to set up support networks within their centre. 

Community coach support network Netball Northern image

About Coach Developers and Connectors at your Centre

Our community coaching support network includes having coach developers or coach connectors at each netball centre. These people are experienced coaches who love to see other coaches grow and want to support them to deliver a quality netball experience to their players.

A Coach Developer is someone who will deliver learning and development opportunities through coaching workshops such as the Community Coach Award modules or the futureFERNS coaching programme. They also do coach observations, both formally and informally, and will provide support to coaches as a mentor. 

A Coach Connector is someone who provides a support system for coaches at their centres. They provide informal training and connects coaches at a centre with one another, to create a space for networking and knowledge sharing. 

If you’re interested in learning more about what it is to be a Coach Developer and Coach Connector, email Netball Northern Community Coach Lead on  This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Community Coach Awards Modules

Netball NZ’s Community Coach Award (CCA) modules are designed for coaches to take a holistic approach to coaching and physical literacy.

‘What to coach’ is helpful, but ‘how to coach’ is what really makes an impact.

If you would like support and new ideas on how to be an effective coach, come along to a Community Coach module workshop.  With each module you’ll gain valuable learnings which will improve your coaching abilities.

If you choose to complete all the modules, as well as the coach observation sessions, you can gain the Netball NZ Community Coach Level 1 and Level 2 Awards. 

Workshops take place throughout the Netball Northern Zone. You can attend a workshop at your own centre, or another centre near to you. Just keep an eye out on the centre’s website or Facebook pages for details.

You can read more about the Netball NZ Community Coach Award Modules  and  view each module on the coaching portal Sport Tutor.

NetballSmart is the official injury prevention and performance enhancement programme of Netball New Zealand. This holistic programme works by connecting at all levels, from coaches, players and parents to officials and governance.

NetballSmart is embedded into coaching resources within New Zealand and is a part of the netball community, from grassroots through to performance and high-performance.

NetballSmart’s four key strategies are:

• Decrease serious injuries (ankles & knees).
• Increase engagement of NetballSmart philosophies into netball practices.
• Improve player wellbeing and welfare.
• Develop Physically Capable Competent Movers (PCCM) who can cope with the demands of the game.

Visit  www.netballsmart.co.nz for more information or visit NetballSmart on Facebook or Instagram for regular videos on movement, nutrition and health tips when playing netball.

NetballSmart in Netball Northern Zone

We have two NetballSmart Development Officers (NSDO) who are an integral part of bringing NetballSmart to life in our zone.

Amelia Pasco

NetballSmart Development Officer

Katie Adamson

NetballSmart Development Officer

Our NetballSmart Development Officers support netball centres to develop NetballSmart strategies and practices, as well as delivering the NetballSmart principles to coaches, players, parents, and umpires.

They run workshops for centres with representative teams attending tournaments or Player Development Programmes, as well as schools and clubs to educate coaches and players. All workshops are free to attend, and printed resources are provided.

Check out some of our NetballSmart workshop options below 

For more information, visit the NetballSmart workshops page on their website