Congratulations and celebrations to Kat West and Luke Gillies of Pukekohe Netball Centre for completing their Netball New Zealand Community Coach Award level 1 (CCA1). This is by no means an easy accomplishment, it is quite an extraordinary triumph, and it can take a few years to complete!

CCA Level 1 award requires the coach to complete the Sport Tutor online modules as well as the practical components at a workshop. The modules include Attack, Defence, Building Effective Relationships, Selecting, Skills Analysis, Shooting, Team Culture, Planning, Learning to Umpire and Netball Smart Module.

When I asked Kat what she loved about coaching, she shared… ‘I love coaching because I believe I am helping to create a community of Netball Players that will love the game for life. If I can teach someone something that can help them be the netball player that they want to be then I will keep coaching’.

To achieve the Netball New Zealand Community Coach Award Level 2 you are also required to complete online and practical components. They include, Developing Physical Literacy, Introduction to Mental Skills, Through-court, Tournament Planning, Centre Pass on Attack and Defence, Circle Work, Introduction to Game Analysis, and a practical coach observation.

Luke Gillies shares his views:
"The module content is great, you little bit by little bit build a very sound base of netball knowledge and a greater appreciation for how to deliver a coaching session with a higher engagement from the players. I'm a firm believer in "you don't know what you don't know" so I am always looking for ways to add to my coaching toolkit and in every session I had 1 or 2 absolute lightbulb moments where I was like "oh I see, that's why that happens or "that's how to overcome this issue". I guess the alternative could be a lifetime of coaching or you accelerate your learning by attending these courses.

Prior to starting CCA1 & CCA2 my coaching nature would have been to "tell" the players how to do something but now I definitely see great benefit in drawing the answers or solutions out of the players themselves, I don't think my coaching would have evolved this way had I not started these courses so I am grateful that the assistance is available.

I think in netball we are so lucky to have this system to learn in, I was recently at a meeting of coaches from many different sports and they were blown away when I told them what was available to us, also the support I have received from The Pukekohe Netball Centre, Kat West (our coach developer) and Netball Northern has been beyond what I thought would be accessible, I would encourage anyone involved in Netball coaching to make use of this resource."

As Kat and Luke have demonstrated, the coaches that attend and complete these modules show an exceptional, caring, dedication and motivation to be the best coaches they can be for their players. It is a real credit to them, and we are very fortunate to have them servicing our sport.
If we can keep our young people playing sport by creating a great experience, where they can learn and develop in a safe encouraging environment where their needs are first and foremost, then we know we are making a positive difference to their lives and in doing so contributing to healthy communities.