The recruitment process for the Diamonds head coach is underway. Netball Australia CEO Kate Palmer said today that the appointment is one of the most critical the sport makes and that it was important to establish a process and time line that allows current Coach Norma Plummer to focus on winning in World Netball Championships in July.
Netball Australia will seek expressions of interest from High Performance coaches during February 2011 and the formal process will begin following the championships in Singapore. Palmer said that applicants will be part of a rigorous process to determine the best candidate for the position and that it is anticipated that current Diamonds Coach Norma Plummer will be involved.
An announcement on the coach is expected at the beginning of August. The national head coach will be entrusted with the role of preparing and coaching the Australian Diamonds, as well as liaising with the Member Organisations, the Australian Institute of Sport and State Institutes and Academies of Sport to oversee the technical direction of the sport.
The appointed coach will have sufficient time to recruit a high performance support team before going into camp ahead of the six-game Holden Netball Test Series against England and New Zealand in October.
“The next appointment will have the important task of guiding the Diamonds and the technical direction of the sport towards the 2015 World Netball Championships which will hopefully be on home soil,” Kate Palmer said.
Australia is bidding against Manchester for the right to host the 2015 World Netball Championships in Sydney and recently hosted a visit from IFNA officials to assess the bid.
Further details on the recruitment of the national head coach will be made public when available.
