Netball Australia is delighted to announce five new coaches have been awarded with their High Performance Coach Accreditation, the pinnacle of Australia’s coaching accreditation pathway.
New South Wales pair Briony Akle and Moira Gaha, Queensland’s Jenny Brazel, Melinda Clarke (ACT) and former Australian representative Nicole Richardson have all been given the tick of approval after completing their final assessment tasks for this intensive and rigorous course.
Coaches who have obtained the High Performance Coach Accreditation have coached at State and/or National level as well as demonstrated competency in all the high performance coaching technical and tactical skills, which are vital to the continued success of the athletes at the national level.
Richardson, who played 32 Tests for Australia and was part of the 2002 Commonwealth Games Gold Medal side, is currently a specialist coach with West Coast Fever in the ANZ Championship.
Brazel is an assistant coach at the Queensland Firebirds and also head coach of Australian Netball League side QLD Fusion.
Clarke and Akle are also both coaching in the ANL this season; Clarke at Canberra Darters and Akle in charge of the Netball NSW Waratahs. Gaha has led New South Wales’ underage state teams and also coached at ANL level.
Netball Australia’s Head of Netball Development Anne-Marie Phippard has congratulated the group on joining the list of Australia’s High Performance coaches.
“This is a great achievement for these coaches, all of whom I know have worked tirelessly over many years to complete the accreditation” Phippard said.
“Their passion for coaching is evident by their commitment to working their way through each level of our coaching pathway.
“I wish them the best of luck for wherever their coaching journey takes them in the future.”
Netball Australia plans to recognise the group’s achievements by having Australian Diamonds Head Coach Lisa Alexander present them with their certificates at a round of either the ANZ Championship or Australian Netball League in coming weeks.
Netball Australia