Netball New Zealand (NNZ) have announced the coaching staff for the FAST5 Ferns to compete in November’s Netball World Series in Christchurch with Marianne Delaney-Hoshek confirmed as head coach and Paula Smith as her assistant.
It will be Delaney-Hoshek’s first time as head coach of the FAST5 Ferns for the two-day tournament which sees the world’s top six ranked teams compete in the action-packed shortened version of the game to be played at Wolfbrook Arena in Christchurch on November 11 and 12.
Delaney-Hoshek has also this week been re-signed as the Trident Homes Tactix head coach for the 2024 ANZ Premiership where she will guide the team for her seventh season in charge.
The Tactix coach said she was looking forward to taking on both roles in the high performance arena and loved what FAST5 netball had brought to the sport.
“FAST5 is right up my alley and I’m really excited to be a part of this format which brings so much fun to the netball court,” she said. “The fun factor is such a strong element to this tournament, and New Zealand has a proud record on the FAST5 netball court which is something that Paula and I want to continue in Christchurch.”
Delaney-Hoshek has taken the Tactix to two Grand Finals during her tenure and the team came agonisingly close to this year’s Finals Series, in what was one of the closest Premiership’s in recent history.
She said she was pleased to be able to pick up the challenge with the Tactix again and build on the foundations they laid with a new-look group this season.
“There were a lot of things to consider but the main driver for me was the unfinished business that we started this year,” she said on re-signing with the Tactix.
“We had a number of new connections on court and to be able to work with those players again is really exciting.”
Delaney-Hoshek felt the team was “hitting our straps” late in the season having overcome a few injury hurdles and was well-placed to build on the connections they had worked hard to develop this year.
She said it was a “massive” undertaking as head coach, but it was also her “passion” and the people on and off the court at the Tactix ensured she wanted to stay in the job.
“My ‘why’ is definitely the people – the players and the staff,” she said. “There is also the carrot hanging there of taking the Tactix to their first ANZ Premiership title. We’ve come really close recently and the drive is certainly there to reach that goal.”
NNZ Head of High Performance Stephen Hotter said it was exciting to see ANZ Premiership coaches have the opportunity to further their coaching career on the international stage.
“We’re thrilled to be able to see our elite coaches given the chance to experience competition at its highest level and with some of our best athletes,” he said.
“Both Marianne and Paula have been coaching at an elite level in New Zealand for a number of years and being involved with an event like the World Netball Series is important for our High Performance progamme in helping our coaches to grow.”
Tactix General Manager Haidee Stratford said she was delighted to re-sign Delaney-Hoshek for their 2024 campaign and praised the work she had done with the club since signing on as head coach in 2017.
“The culture Marianne has helped to develop and nurture at our club has been a key to the success of the Tactix in recent years and we’re thrilled to have locked her in for another season,” she said.
“To see that she has been recognised by Netball New Zealand with her appointment as FAST5 Ferns coach confirms her credentials in the high performance arena.”
