World Cup decision disappoints Netball NZ
Netball New Zealand couldn’t have done anything more to secure hosting rights for the 2023 World Cup, chief executive Jennie Wyllie says.
Kiwi netball fans woke up to news yesterday with the International Netball Federation confirming overnight South Africa had triumphed over New Zealand to stage the global tournament.
It will be the first time the World Cup has been contested in Africa, with the event to be held in the coastal city of Cape Town.
Missing out on hosting the tournament is another blow for NNZ with the Silver Ferns having a wretched run over the past 18 months, culminating in a fourth place finish at last year’s Commonwealth Games and a damning independent report into the side’s plight, which ultimately cost national coach Janine Southby her job.
NNZ will celebrate 100 years in 2023 and hosting the World Cup would have been the perfect way to mark that milestone. It would still mark the celebration in a fitting way, Wyllie said.
She was adamant NNZ couldn’t have done anything more to topple South Africa’s bid. It had strong backing from central and local government and NNZ had a superb history of delivering major netball events, including the 2007 tournament in Auckland at short notice when INF withdrew hosting rights from Fiji following a military coup to unseat the government.
NNZ forecast a budget of around $15 million to host the event. It had secured $4 million from the government’s New Zealand Major Events initiative, $2 million from Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED) and Sport New Zealand had supported its bid process. The rest would have come from commercial revenue, ticketing and broadcasting.
‘‘We’re obviously disappointed. We had a really, really strong bid. It was something we were incredibly proud of and we put our best foot forward,’’ Wyllie told Stuff.
‘‘We all know at the moment there’s no better time for female empowerment and the focus being on female sport. All of those were strengths of our bid. The financial sustainability was massive.’’
The early feedback from the INF to NNZ had been holding the World Cup in Africa for the first time was a breakthrough moment for the sport and a powerful drawcard in its decision.
Cape Town had impressed with its legacy programmes with the Western Cape government committed to creating more than 30 new netball courts in the province by 2023 to enhance participation.
The 2017 Youth Netball World Cup was also contested in Africa in the Botswana capital of Gaborone.
Wyllie hoped the emergence of Malawi and Uganda in world netball and South Africa’s pleasing improvement in recent years hadn’t been a factor in the decision, as it was about staging a major event successfully.
‘‘The on-court performance really doesn’t tie into big decisions like this, this is the pinnacle event for the sport. It needs to be about someone’s capability to deliver an event of this magnitude.’’
Had New Zealand’s bid been successful, the tournament would have been held in Auckland across 10 days. Matches would have been contested at the downtown Spark Arena, including the finals, and Eventfinda Stadium, formerly the North Shore Events Centre.
Since it began in England in 1963, the world championship of netball has been played in New Zealand three times – in Auckland in 1975, Christchurch in 1999, and Auckland again in 2007.
England is hosting this year’s World Cup in Liverpool in July. Jennie Wyllie, NNZ chief executive
Noeline Taurua knows full well how disruptive it can be trying to juggle Silver Ferns and club demands during the domestic netball season.
You only need to glance at rugby and see how challenging and unsettling All Blacks rest weeks and national camps have been for Kiwi Super Rugby coaches.
Silver Ferns coach Taurua has been on the opposite side of the fence, previously guiding the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic and Southern Steel.
Pulling players from club commitments to work with national coaches never sat well with her, so Taurua has tried to strike a delicate balance.
‘‘I know what it’s like when you have players that are either overloaded or expected to come out and be friends with [the Silver Ferns] and then come back at the weekend and try and beat each other up on court and be competitive,’’ she told Stuff.
As the countdown to July’s World Cup ticks faster, former Silver Ferns Donna Wilkins (shooting), Marg Foster (midcourt) and Yvonne Willering (defence) have been brought in as specialist coaches to assist national squad members and Ferns development squad players.
The trio will work alongside Taurua and assistant Debbie Fuller and be involved in 11 sessions with the six national premiership teams across the next 12 weeks.
Despite being based on the Sunshine Coast and coaching the back-to-back champion Lightning in Australia’s Super Netball, which starts in late April, Taurua will be at nine of the sessions.
The sessions ran for about 90 minutes with the first 45 minutes focusing on individual areas of the court and then shooters, midcourters and defenders linking up to fine-tune combinations. Taurua described them as ‘‘medium to low intensity’’.
Steel coach Reinga Bloxham and Mystics opposite Helene Wilson observed Sunday’s session, something the Ferns coaches want to encourage.
Taurua stressed it was vital the national and domestic coaches were on the same page for the greater good.
‘‘We’re trying to get better communication and build that relationship, building trust that we’re all in the same boat.
‘‘It’s not going to be a quick fix, but if we can improve the skillset of each individual that can only be good for them.’’
Wilkins, Foster and Willering were all renowned for their ruthless and uncompromising nature in their playing days. That was exactly the kind of people the rebuilding Ferns, who are at a low ebb after last year’s woeful fourth-place Commonwealth Games finish, needed to be around, Taurua said.
‘‘I don’t want to go into worlds with any excuses. We need to make improvements.
‘‘One of them is ownership and everybody being able to do their job and being able to compete. All three of those coaches are very straight shooters and we need to have an environment where there’s no excuses.’’
There will be two to three chances for aspiring Ferns in each national premiership team to get tutelage through the season from the specialist coaching trio.
Since taking over the Ferns job in late August, Taurua has strived to improve the strength and conditioning of players. Minimal targets have been set and Taurua refused to select players who didn’t meet that criteria for January’s Quad Series in England.
Silver Ferns and Silver Ferns development squad members are required to complete the gruelling 1.2km Bronco shuttle fitness test each week with their club sides and Taurua monitors results.
Watching the early rounds of the ANZ Premiership, Taurua was pleased by improvements in fitness levels. It was translating into greater explosiveness on court, she said. ‘‘I do feel overall fitness levels are up from previous years in the conditioning.’’
Teams were making too many turnovers with the Magic and Pulse combining for 64 in their clash on Monday and the Tactix committing 33 in their loss to the Stars on Wednesday.
Consistency in form was another concern with some players shining in one match, but not being able to back up that play in their next game.
Seeing returning Silver Ferns Kayla Cullen (Stars) and Kelly Jury (Magic) back on court after an injury-plagued 2018 was heartening for Taurua and lifted the standard and pool of talent.
‘‘It gives us more options, but both are very quality players and for them to get back on court it shows their value, their worth, and experience – and they’re very good netballers.’’