Melissa is an international netball coach who has travelled the World coaching the sport she loves. Originally from New Zealand, Melissa has had many netball coaching roles including being Head Coach for the New Zealand Maoris team, Fiji national team and most recently the Welsh National team.
To read her full interview with the FCN, CLICK HERE
So people ask me ‘Director of Netball’ that’s a little different from International Netball Coach …
My answer… just the title! My job is still the same, but better. I am still coaching Netball but this time I’m coaching younger players. Some are raw, exciting, enthusiastic, undisciplined, bright eyed, talented and eager. All the ‘up and coming’ talent of the future in this sport. The massive and brilliant added bonus is that, being in the school environment, we get to teach, develop and support them academically and holistically. The most important and crucial part of all top athletes is the ‘top 2 inches’, so why not start teaching them now. It is important to remember a career comes first and sport follows. You have to think of the ‘what if’s’. In life we never know how long our ‘shelf life’ is going to be as an athlete so we MUST think of life after sport and our career. Especially with Netball only being an amateur sport, you cannot make a living out of it.
So I have lived in the UK now for nearly 6 ½ years and understand the sport of ‘Netball’ here very well. I know the people and have great contacts throughout the UK, but still believe that there is lots to be done. There are so many passionate, wonderful people and there is definitely TALENT – loads of talent, but it’s untapped and still to be found. I think that the way forward is the school sector in the UK.
To work as the Director of Netball at Queen Ethelburga’s Collegiate in York, with young athletes from the
ages of 9 to 18 and develop the potential of the whole pupil is a dream job. Having the opportunity to offer sports scholarships to athletes, as well, is very American to me. It has always been my dream to work in the USA, in the college school system; Coach Carter is very much me. To play sport, on this occasion, Netball, for your school, and be playing at the highest level of competition within the school sector; to become, ultimately, ‘The Best School in the UK’, you must, first and foremost, be a success in the classroom – ‘B’ grade average is the aim but striving for straight ‘A’s is the plan.
So I have implemented a 5 year plan at Queen Ethelburga’s which is called my ‘Athlete Wellbeing Netball Programme’. My mission is simple; ‘Striving to deliver the highest level of coaching in all aspects of Sport and Education through Leadership, Inspiration, Motivation and Innovation’. While my vision for the college is to be recognised as the best in the UK for producing the highest quality Netball Wellbeing Performance Programme and for developing the potential of the whole pupil. And to have pupils achieving their dreams by playing at the highest levels of the sport globally. In the long run, the main aim is to create the overall Netball experience for all within the school so we can improve the numbers in the programme – home grown talent, which will filter upwards and create a continual supply of great athletes. This however is a long process and will not happen overnight or even within the year. It’s about a Long Term Athlete Development model for maximising potential. Teaching basic fundamentals first and building the blocks up from there, while ensuring we support, nurture and develop the athlete as they grow. The beautiful thing about this is that we get to help create the whole person from the beginning, so when they do make it to the top level, the hard graft and well-rounded character has already been instilled, and they can fly. This is the dream!!
Read Part 2 HERE
