Netball Australia has selected Stacey Marinkovich as the new Origin Australian Diamonds Head Coach, making her the 15th person to lead the world’s number one netball team.
Current coach of the West Coast Fever, Marinkovich brings more than a decade of coaching experience to the role, most recently at an international level as Specialist Centre Court Coach of the Australian Development Squad and Australian Fast5 Head Coach.
Awarded the Joyce Brown Coach of the Year in 2018, Marinkovich has also had a lifetime involvement with the Netball Australia pathway as an elite player within state representative teams and for the Perth Orioles and West Coast Fever until her playing retirement in 2009.
Marinkovich will continue to coach the West Coast Fever until the end of the 2021 Suncorp Super Netball season before stepping full-time into Origin Diamonds Head Coach duties ahead of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham and 2023 Netball World Cup in South Africa.
Marinkovich spoke of the pride she feels to be appointed the next leader of the Origin Diamonds.
“This is something I have been working towards my entire professional life and I’m absolutely honoured and humbled that Netball Australia have granted me the opportunity to lead the world’s best netball team,” she said.
“I am acutely aware of the expectations, the history and responsibility of taking on such a position and I am very much looking forward to growing the success of the Origin Diamonds program.
“Coaching the Origin Diamonds is not about me as a coach. It is about the team that is representing the nation and Netball Australia, and everything I will do in my time as Head Coach is about the quality of that representation.
“My coaching philosophy has always been to evolve my athletes by embedding a collaborative purpose and generating principles and standards that enable players, support staff, stakeholders and the wider netball community to thrive and advance towards sustained success.”
Netball Australia CEO Marne Fechner said she was delighted with the decision after what was a lengthy and rigorous process, with an outstanding field of applicants.
“Australia is spoilt for choice when it comes to high quality coaches and the quality of the applicants, as you would expect, was outstanding. The head coach role is critical within the context of our national high-performance system and we are excited to have Stacey stepping into the role, she is an outstanding coach and leader,” she said.
“Stacey understands the complexity of the performance challenges ahead and the expectation we all have for this team. The incoming coach will be charged with unlocking the extraordinary ability of this team and we’re confident that Stacey’s people first approach, technical capability and drive for success will do just that.”
“We have and will continue to work closely with the West Coast Fever on the succession planning they have in place for their next coach and we will do all that we can to support that process.”
Australian Institute of Sport CEO Peter Conde congratulated Marinkovich on her appointment and commended Netball Australia for its rigorous recruitment process.
“It was a pleasure for our team to work closely with Netball Australia to provide support for their robust, world-leading recruitment process. This is one of the most sought-after coaching roles in Australian sport,” he said.
“Our high-performance netballers are role models for thousands of Australia’s women and girls and with Stacey at the helm, we look forward to seeing that grow heading into Birmingham 2022 and beyond,” he said.
It is yet to be confirmed when the Origin Diamonds will next take to the court. Netball Australia and Netball New Zealand are continuing discussions around completing the annual four-match Constellation Cup test series this year, pending travel allowances across the Tasman.
The 2020/21 Origin Australian Diamonds squad is set to be announced at the end of the 2020 Suncorp Super Netball home and away season.
