Netball NSW High Performance Coach and NSW Swifts Specialist Coach Sue Hawkins has been appointed to the International Federation of Netball Associations Coaching Advisory Panel.
 
The panel, which meets once a year, contains some of the best coaching minds in international netball including former Silver Ferns coaches Ruth Aiken and Leigh Gibbs, England’s Anita Navin and Liz Broomhead, Jamaica’s Maureen Hall, South Africa’s Bennie Saayman and Australia’s Jill McIntosh who is the chairperson.
 
“The role of the committee is to spread the word of netball, develop programs and to try and enhance coaching around the world as well as come up with different strategies and plans for the future,” Hawkins said.
 
“Netball is not rocket science; it’s about sharing ideas and making sure that you can take the sport down different paths and think outside the box.
 
“I think that this group is very well placed in the sense of the people who are on the panel; there is a lot of variety and I think that this will be very helpful for the sport.”
 
Hawkins is excited by the future of international netball, pointing to the rise of Northern Ireland and Malawi at last World Netball Championships as well as the push from England and Jamaica against traditional netball superpowers New Zealand and Australia, as signs that the gap is decreasing.
 
In a coaching career that already includes many highlights; the opportunity to share philosophies, ideas and rub shoulders with fellow international coaches is something that Hawkins is looking forward to as part of the panel.