Tuesday 31 January 2012

IFNA Seeks Chief Executive Officer

Job Title

Chief Executive Officer



Organisation



International Netball Federation Limited


Salary
Circa £50,000 commensurate with experience




Location


Manchester, UK


Type of Contract


Maternity Cover to commence April 2012 at the latest.


Job Description
The International Netball Federation, the world governing body for the sport, located in Manchester, England, is seeking to recruit a Chief Executive Officer.

The incumbent will report to the President and Board of Directors and will be responsible for providing strategic direction as well as directing the policy, operations and development of the Federation for the achievement of both long and short term global objectives of the sport of Netball.

In addition, they will be expected to provide general and specific direction for the day-to-day management of the Federation through but not limited to fiscal management, human resource management, marketing and public relations and administrative management.

The successful candidate should exhibit strong management, leadership, strategic thinking and communication skills with a sound record of project management and achieving results.

The candidate should possess a Degree or Diploma in Business Management or Sports Management and Marketing with the following experience:

o At least five years experience in senior management roles, including at Board level, with direct line responsibility, ideally within the recreational/ sports industries

o Demonstrated experience in coordinating events, and liaison with national and/or international organisations, sponsors and Government bodies

Full job description and person specification on the IFNA website – www.netball.org


How to apply

Send CV to ifna@netball.org or by post:

IFNA Secretariat
Albion Wharf
19 Albion Street
Manchester
M1 5LN
Tel: +44 (0)161 234 6515
Fax: +44 (0)161 234 6516



Closing Date
17th February 2012



Interview Date

TBC

Friday 27 January 2012

Netball around the world

Australian international Mo'onia Gerrard has signed an agreement to become a Gilbert brand ambassador. Gerrard (pictured below) an international for more than ten years with two World Championships gold medals and a Commonwealth Games silver medal, is currently working with Gilbert on her design for a new netball, and joins current Gilbert ambassadors Sharelle McMahon and Irene van Dyk. Gilbert is currently IFNA’s official ball supplier.




The Jamaica Netball Association has overhauled its entire training structure for its national sides, in a bid to improve the performances of all the teams. Former national coach Maureen Hall, the national high performance director, has revised the training schedules for the Sunshine Girls, U21, U17 and U13 national squads, to include specialist skills training as well as improved conditioning sessions. The changes aim to improve player transition between squads, as well as increase base skills levels across all the age groups.

Mwayi Kumwende, Malawi's first professional netballer, has been delayed from returning to Australia to meet up with her Penninsula Waves club colleagues by visa complications. Kumwende, who had an outstanding first season Down Under, had hoped to join the club's pre-season training programme in mid-January, but the Malawian international has been delayed by official red tape and has been forced to start her season's preparations back home.

Two other Malawian netballers – Joyce Mvula and Beauty Chirwa – are still expected to take part in the Tanzanian National Championships as part of the Filbert Bayi side, once parental approval has been received by Netball Association of Malawi to issue clearances to play. However, another Malawian, Takonda Lwazi, has declined the invitation to take part in the competition as she has accepted a post by the Malawi police.


Preparations for the 2012 ANZ Championships are now well under way, with all ten teams confirmed for the official pre-season tournament to take place in Tauranga, New Zealand from 1-4 March. This is the first time that the full ANZ line up will take part in the pre-season competition. Meanwhile, the Canterbury Tactix have confirmed that they will host their own pre-season tournament on 11 and 12 February, featuring the Southern Steel as well as the Tactix Accelerant squad, Canterbury men's team and club side Eastwood Ryde from New South Wales.

The UK's Fiat Netball Superleague got under way this week with a repeat of last season's Grand Final between Surrey Storm and Hertfordshire Mavericks. With several leading names missing from the Mavericks line up for the 2012 season, this time the honours went to Storm, 62-47. Northern Thunder impressed in a 57-36 win over Yorkshire Jets, while Celtic Dragons overcame former champions TeamBath 61-49. In the final match of the first round, Loughborough Lightning withstood a spirited challenge from Team Northumbria to take the win 49-44.

Netball New Zealand has signed a three year agreement with Canterbury of New Zealand to provide all match and training gear to the Silver Ferns as well as to all the Netball New Zealand national squads and umpires. Canterbury, supplier to the SilverFerns from the mid-90s until 2006, replaces Adidas as the association's kit provider. The Silver Ferns' new competition dress will be unveiled in October.

Finally Trinidad and Tobago Netball Association concludes a talent identification programme this weekend, after scouring the national competitions for players in the U16 and U21 age groups as well as for the senior squad. As part of the process, they will visit the Guapo Point of Port Fontin tournament, a new competition which has been introduced to reintroduce netball to south Trinidad – more than ten teams have registered to take part.

Friday 20 January 2012

Netball around the world

Congratulations to Hong Kong, who registered two wins from two games to emerge champions at a tri-nations competition against neighbours Chinese Taipei and Thailand this week. The competition was designed to provide increased competitive exposure for teams from the region, as part of their preparations for the Asian Championships which will be held in August. Chinese Taipei also played a young Hong Kong side, and registered their first international victory with a 46-38 win. The Hong Kong Netball Association is confident that the tournament will become an annual event and will use it to develop players and officials in the future.




Inspirational Silver Ferns captain, Casey Williams, returns to action with the New Zealand squad for the first time in six months this weekend, after recovering from major ankle surgery which she underwent last September. The star defender, who went under the surgeon's knife to repair damage sustained by years playing at the top level, will join the international squad for the first of two training camps, where they will be joined by members of New Zealand's accelerant group.

The president of the Uganda Netball Association, Susan Ongom, will be seeking a second term as president at elections to be held by the Uganda Netball Federation in the coming weeks.

The Antigua Netball Association Inter-Schools competition got under way this week, with 21 schools taking part at U18, U16 and U13 level. Princess Margaret Secondary School is the reigning U16 champions, while Pares Secondary School holds the U18 crown. Meanwhile, Care Hall Secondary School will be defending its U13 championships.

The Jamaica Netball Association has announced its plans to boost the performances of its international teams during the coming season, with the senior Sunshine Girls scheduled to meet South Africa in a test series later this year, as well as taking part in the Caribbean tournament in July. Meanwhile the young Sunshine Girls will host an Australian U21 touring squad during the summer, as well as honouring a reciprocal arrangement made with a team that travelled to the island from the UK last year.

Netball continues to increase in popularity in Pakistan, with increased competitive opportunities for players of all age groups. This week, the Frontier College for Women upset Government Girls College Nowshera by 13-12 goals in the final of the Inter-College Women Netball Championship played under the aegis of Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Women University. Meanwhile, the Pakistan Netball Federation has confirmed it will be organising the ASC Netball Coaching, Development & Tournament Program 2012 for Girls in Karachi this weekend, in collaboration with Australian Sports Commission (ASC) & Sindh Netball Association. More than 100 schools, colleges and universities have been invited to take part in the programme, which will provide coaching and umpiring advice as well as fitness and general netball skills training for participants.

In the UK, Northern Thunder won the Fast Net Grand Prix pre-season tournament, beating Yorkshire Jets 35-21 in the final. The event saw the top two teams from both the northern and southern conferences compete in a one off finals weekend, from which Thunder emerged victorious. They defeated hosts Surrey Storm 27-21 to progress to the final, while the Jets defeated Celtic Dragons and Storm to join them in the play off.

Hosts the Glasgow Wildcats held off competition from across the British Isles to take the title at the inaugural British Invitational tournament last weekend. The tournament was created with financial assistance from Glasgow City Council to help develop a squad of elite players that will represent Scotland at the Commonwealth Games in 2014. Glasgow Wildcats were undefeated across the weekend, registering wins over a Northern Ireland select squad, the England U21 squad and Premier Force, a side featuring some of the best players from the south of England.

Finally this week, Welsh Netball has launched a new website to support its franchise in the UK's Netball Superleague. Www.celticdragonsnetball.com will provide regular updates and information on the squad's progress, and Welsh Netball is confident that the increased visibility that it brings will assist in the association's quest for sponsorship support in the coming season.

Friday 13 January 2012

Netball around the world

In a first for Malawian netball, legendary attacker Mary Waya, this week launched her autobiography – the first book of its kind published in the African nation. “Mary Waya: Netball Queen” looks at her life and achievements and is hoped to inspire a future generation of Queens players. In her 40’s now, Mary still plays netball for local team MTL Queens but has retired from international netball.

Mary pictured in action at World Netball Championships 2007.




Namibian netball continues to flourish with the announcement that two of its national squad members, Anna Kasper and Delia Keja, have been invited to take part in the Singapore SuperLeague, which starts in February. The pair, who impressed scouts during last month's Six Nations Tournament, are confirming terms of their contracts at present, and join their international captain, Toetsi Kambatuku as import players in domestic competitions – Kambatuku will line up for Team Northumbria once more in this season's UK Netball Superleague.

The news comes as the All Namibia Netball Association this week announced a programme of 13 netball “safaris” across the country to unearth potential new international talent, primarily at U21 level. The Association also plans to establish regional U21 league competitions to improve playing standards and increase competitive opportunities across the country.

Netballers from Scotland, Northern Ireland and England will converge on Glasgow this weekend for the inaugural British Invitational Championships. Host side the Glasgow Wildcats will face the Northern Panthers from Northern Ireland, the England U21 side and an invitational side from England, Northern Premier Force in a three day competition which is the start of Scottish Netball's build up to the 2014 Commonwealth Games. The Panthers side includes former international sprinter Anna Boyle, a 60m and 100m Irish record holder, who returned to netball in 2011 after hanging up her running spikes.

In England, the Cathedral City Lighter FastNet Grand Prix reaches its finals this weekend, with four teams competing for the opening prize of the Netball Superleague season. Northern Thunder and Yorkshire Jets qualified for the finals from the Northern Conference while Surrey Storm and Celtic Dragons finished top of the table in the Southern competition. The four will now meet this evening (13 January 2012) to decide who takes the title.

Welsh Netball has signed an agreement with Samurai Sportswear which will become official kit suppliers to the Welsh national squads for the next four years. The high performance kit, which will feature the latest in fabric technology, will be the first international strips produced by the sportswear manufacturer.

Teams in the ANZ Championships are now entering a period of pre-season training, with only one uncertainty remaining over the squad line ups. The Adelaide Thunderbirds have yet to confirm whether Jamaican international Carla Borrego has been granted Australian residency, in which case another Sunshine Girl, towering shooter Jhanele Fowler will take the Thunderbirds' import spot. If Borrego's application is denied, Fowler's place in the team will be taken by a local South Australian player.

The USA Netball Association has announced that the 2012 National Netball Championships will take place in Delray Beach, Florida on 23 and 24 June 2012. The competition, which will be played at the Atlantic Community High School, will be organised in conjunction with the Florida Netball Association. For more information, please visit www.usanetball.org.

Finally, Fiji's selectors will, this weekend, name a training squad of 40 U21 players to start preparations for the 2013 World Youth Championships, after two days of trials. More than 100 players from across the country were identified during the 2011 U21 and Secondary Schools championships to take part in the trials. The selected squad will be coached by Moape Vu and managed by former South Pacific weightlifting gold medallist Della Shaw.

Friday 6 January 2012

Netball around the world

After the recent Nations Cup in Singapore, and several international Test matches, there have been some changes to the IFNA International Rankings table. After their victories in all three matches against Scotland, Wales move up to 11th place, ahead of Northern Ireland which now sits in 12th position. Singapore moves up two to 19th, while Sri Lanka drops two places to 20th. Malaysia steps up to 22nd in the world from 23rd, while Tanzania and Canada both move down one position. For the full rankings table, and how it is calculated, visit the Rankings section of the IFNA website.

Vanuatu's netballers have increased their international experience in recent weeks: following the visit from Aztecs earlier this year, two Vanuatu teams, supported by sponsorship from Westpac and travelled to Tasmania where they played a number of matches, including fixtures against Latrobe High School, where many of the Aztecs players study. In addition, Vanuatu fielded teams at the 14th Golden Oldies Netball Festival in Fiji, with several new players taking to the court for their country. In domestic competition, Port Vila emerged victorious at the National Netball Series for 2011, with an undefeated record over three days of competition, and will host the Series in 2012.

In Pakistan, the Punjab Netball Association has announced that it will be staging the 10th National Women’s Netball Championships at the LUMS University, Lahore from 6-9 February in association with the Pakistan Netball Federation. 14 teams have confirmed their participation for the competition, including defending champions, Sindh. The top five ranked sides will qualify for the 32nd National Games, to be played in Lahore in October/November.

New Zealand's Netball Southland has appointed an Australian rugby league official as its new chief executive. Queenslander David Bannister will also take on the chief executive's position for the Southern Steel in the ANZ Championships, replacing Julie Paterson who is transferring to the Mystics franchise. Bannister has been the education and development manager for Queensland Rugby League for the past two years and previously spent nine years with Queensland Cricket in both management and development roles.

Leading Tanzanian club side Filbert Bayi (named after its owner, Olympic Silver Medallist, Filbert Bayi) has announced plans to sign several Malawian players on loan for the forthcoming season to help to improve playing standards and increase netball's participation in the region. This continues the partnership started in 2011, when legendary Malawian attacking star Mary Waya and emerging centre courter Takondwa Lwazi joined Filbert Bayi for the Tanzanian National Championships, while Waya also conducted a number of coaching courses across the country.

Finally, another Malawian, international shooter Mwayi Kumwende (pictured below in action against Australia at last year's World Netball Championships) returns to Australia this week to take up her second eight month contract with Victoria Netball League (VNL) club side Peninsula Waves, as part of an agreement which is renewable for three years. 22 year old Kumwenda had a very successful first season at Waves, taking her side's player of the season award as well as achieving selection to the VNL All Star team.

Wednesday 4 January 2012

Netball around the world

In the UK, leading dairy supplier Dairy Crest is to sponsor two netball events in the coming year to build awareness of its brands among netballers. The Cathedral City Mature Lighter Cheddar Fast Net Grand Prix will take place in January, featuring all eight franchises from the Netball Superleague, playing in Northern and Southern conference competitions. The winners from each region will qualify for the competition finals, which will take place at the Surrey Sports Park on 13 January 2012. The brand will also be the official dairy sponsor for the Netball Superleague in 2012 and 2013.

Meanwhile, England's Netball Talent League – featuring players aged 14-19 years old representing the eight Superleague franchises, plus the South and West Midlands regions – got under way with a two day festival involving all of the teams. After three matches, Northern Thunder's youth emerged undefeated to lead the table, while West Midlands Warriors, Yorkshire Jets, Mavericks Youth, Surrey Storm Youth and Team South all took two wins from three games.

Fiji coach Unaisi Rokoura is planning to use the skills her side learned at the World Netball Series in Liverpool last month to boost their performances in internationals during 2012.

Despite losing all their matches in their first appearance at the Fastnet competition, Rokoura has highlighted the improvements in decision making and concentration that the new format has given her players, as well as drawing attention to the importance of making the correct coaching moves at the right time. Rokoura is now putting these lessons into practice and, with her players, aims to use Fastnet more regularly in training sessions during 2012 to speed up her players' reactions to on-court situations.


In Africa, it has been confirmed that the National Netball Association of Swaziland (NNAS) will host the Confederation of Southern African Netball Associations (COSANA) Games next year. The Swaziland Sports Council has promised financial assistance to NNAS to fund the competition, which provides competitive opportunities for nations across Southern Africa.

In the Solomon Islands, support from the Ministry of Home Affairs to Waikaru Trust Association of Santa Ana has ensured that the Santa Ana Festive tournament has been staged for the first time in more than 10 years. 17 teams from Santa Ana, as well as the adjacent island of Santa Catalina and Star Harbour are currently battling it out for the championships, as well as a generous cash prize. It is hoped that the reinstatement of this tournament will revive interest in netball across Santa Ana as well as the neighbouring islands, as there have been few competitive opportunities available to young players in recent years.

Christmas held an extra-special surprise for one Bermudan netballer this week, when the Bermuda Netball Association (BNA) presented former Clearwater Middle School head girl Asante Chapman with a $1,000 cheque. The money was given in recognition of the progress the 14 year old netballer has made in the UK since being accepted into the Elite Surrey Netball Academy in the UK, where Chapman is currently studying. Since she plays regularly in “lucky” colourful socks, the BNA asked Chapman's local association players to arrive for the last game before Christmas in long multi-colour socks as a surprise for her! Asante is pictured receiving her cheque from the BNA President, Tracey Sheriff and Minister of Youth Affairs and Families, Glen Blackney.




Finally this week, on behalf of everyone at IFNA, we would like to wish all our Members, supporters and friends a very happy and successful 2012!