Taurua’s Magic rubbed off on family
Southern Steel netball fans have no need to worry about new coach Noeline Taurua’s level of commitment to the sport.
When her newborn baby needed a name in a hurry, she named her after the team she was coaching at the time, Magic.
Taurua coached the WaikatoBOP Magic to the trans-Tasman netball league final in 2008, but when the team made it all the way to the final against the NSW Swifts in Sydney, her unnamed twoweek-old baby girl needed a passport.
There were concerns that the baby would be born in Sydney but other results meant that the Magic ended up hosting the major semifinal three days after the birth.
‘‘It is a bit of a family tradition that we have to take our time to name the children, so it probably takes about three to four months to know their character and to see if their name reflects the person,’’ Taurua said. ‘‘The baby came out when we were heading to Sydney so I had to quickly get a name for the passport.’’
There was also the dilemma of whether Taurua should travel to Invercargill for the round 13 clash nearly two weeks before the actual birth, with fears that the baby would be born away from Rotoruabased family.
‘‘The big thing was whether I would fly, especially at that time, and also knowing that if I did come down there there was the possibility that I would be having baby down here,’’ she said.
‘‘These days you can’t travel when it’s that close.’’
The coach showed a high level of commitment to the team at the business end of the season.
‘‘It was hectic. I just had the baby and went to the next game,’’ she said.
‘‘Well I think I had my planning and my timing wrong in the first place, a couple of weeks out.
‘‘It is definitely one of those things. You don’t want to miss a game, no matter what.’’
Taurua’s daughter and fifth child was officially named Magic for seven years, until a recent overseas trip forced the name to be officially changed to Amiria via deed poll.
Southern fans may have preferred the name Steel.