We are extremely fortunate to have some outstanding leaders in the Australian Diamonds team.
Since we began working with Ray McLean from Leading Teams three years ago, many athletes in our program have made significant improvements in their leadership abilities, so much so that we have recently introduced an `Emerging Leaders’ program into our group.
Ray has been a tremendous mentor and sounding board to many girls in the team and we value his input as we strive to develop outstanding leaders across the squad.
Ray recently held a two-day workshop with Caitlin Bassett, Renae Ingles, Sharni Layton and Madi Robinson as that group continues to work on all aspects of their personal leadership journey.
Renae has been part of our wider leadership group the past 12 months, along with Laura Geitz, Kimberlee Green and Julie Corletto.
With Kim and Julie announcing their retirements after our Netball World Cup SYDNEY 2015 triumph, there is opportunities for our Emerging Leaders to take on more responsibility.
This work and effort is also critical in the continued improvement of our Diamonds program.
I was absolutely thrilled to be able to offer Renae the position of acting vice-captain for our upcoming Constellation Cup Series against New Zealand.
I have watched Renae’s leadership skills and qualities thrive and develop in the past couple of years, particularly after taking over as captain of the Adelaide Thunderbirds from another great leader in Natalie von Bertouch.
This coveted leadership position is an honour the rest of the squad have bestowed on Renae, which highlights the respect each and every athlete has for her as a person and a player.
I’ve just returned from Canberra after completing our first `Diamonds Future Focus’ specialist camp at our Centre of Excellence – and it was simply brilliant.
We flew in 21 athletes from across the country for the three-day camp where they honed their specialised positional skills with world-class coaches Jill McIntosh, Jane Searle and Jenny Borlase.
They were ably assisted by targeted coaches Mo’onia Gerrard, Megan Anderson and Nicole Richardson.
The specialist themes for the camp were based on the Diamonds most recent outing at the Netball World Cup SYDNEY 2015 and the tactics and strategies required for us to remain the number one netball nation in the world.
All athletes were well prepared for the camp with home-based training occurring prior to the camp with our ANZ Championship Head Coaches and State Institute Coaches.
This is the High Performance system working at its best and I look forward to seeing how many of these athletes take the next step in their careers in coming years into the green and gold. Already six of them will get an opportunity in the four Tests against the Silver Ferns next month.
