A good coach is someone who always puts their players first – a quality Shaylah House demonstrates every day in her role as the Wodonga Raiders Netball Club 17&U coach.
Recognising her dedication, success, and commitment to player welfare, House was recently named Coach of the Year in Netball Victoria’s 2021 Community Awards.
This award comes just five years into House’s coaching career, having made herself indispensable to the Wodonga Raiders Netball Club in north-eastern Victoria. She’s held the role of 17&U coach for the past three years, creating a nurturing environment for young players to advance their skills.
Despite experiencing numerous COVID-related shutdowns over the past two years (a situation exacerbated by players living on either side of the NSW-Victoria border), House’s leadership has enabled the team to remain engaged and successful both on and off the court.
Reports from the club of the young coach’s dedication over this period are glowing. “The Wodonga Raiders 17&U team hit the ground running in 2021, quickly becoming the league favourites, displaying not only skill but a cohesiveness and sense of belief that had been instilled and nurtured over the two pandemic seasons.”
The team finished the season undefeated – a testament to this very approach and House’s overall coaching philosophy: “The most important thing is being a good person, before being a good netball player.”
Netball has always been a major part of House’s life. For as long as she can remember, she’s watched her mum coach netball, and House began playing the game at just five years of age.
“I think being a part of that for so long inspired the passion and made me realise how fun that pathway could be to get involved in. I’ve always loved being in leadership roles and giving back to the sport, so it’s something I’ve always been interested in.”
She continues to play netball today, in addition to studying physiotherapy at Charles Sturt University and coaching.
“I love it so much. I get excited to plan training sessions – it’s kind of my outlet for the week. It’s my happy place to go.”
As a senior player herself, House understands the importance of camaraderie in team sports. She continued to build these connections between players over lockdown, scheduling regular virtual training sessions and check-ins so players were mentally and physically ready to take the court the minute restrictions allowed.
“We’re really big on mental health, communicating and bringing players together, so that’s my focus as a coach. I don’t believe you can have success if a group of players aren’t friends and don’t care about each other.”
When asked about how she hopes her players perceive her as a coach, House took a second to consider. “Hopefully they respect me – and that’s why they work hard. More important to me is being someone who’s approachable, someone they can rely on, and someone who supports them in the netball environment, but also out of netball as well.
“I believe that I provide the training session, then the work ethic is up to the players and the team. You shouldn’t have to force someone to want to be there – they should want to be there and want to work hard – and I think that’s why the team has been successful.”
On being named Coach of the Year, House said she’s “very humbled, very excited and shocked.” Her goal is to keep advancing along the coaching accreditation pathway, and eventually coach at a high-performance level.
Watch this space.
