Big netball year for Parker

Press, 1 September 1989, Page 21

Big netball year for Parker

By

DIANNA LESLIE

Lyn Parker, the national netball coach, is back in the saddle and bracing herself for a big year at the helm of the world champion side. Mrs Parker was reelected, unchallenged, by the national executive this week, and is combining with other selectors, Marian Smith and Lois Muir, to choose a national squad for the Auckland Commonwealth Games, trialists for next year, and a young international squad.

She has been perusing the talent at the New Zealand tournament in Hamilton this week and she is approaching her commitments practically. “When I started the job it was great and it will be nice to continue to develop it,” she said, "But there are two threads. I will assess my position year by year, but we are working towards a long term goal of the world championships in Sydney in 1991. So on one hand this next year will be an exciting challenge, and on the other my mind boggles at the amount of work to do,” she said. Mrs Parker is also faced with the daunting task of the withdrawal of some big national names for some of the national commitments next year. The New Zealand Association realised that the combination of the Auckland Commonwealth Games, the Milo series against Jamaica in April, and the Johnson and Johnson tri-series against England and Australia in June, would be too much to expect some of its busier members to cope with. It gave the players the option to choose what they will be available for.

“It’s just the way it is. It was fairly predictable that some players wouldn’t be available. Everyone is at different stages of their lives and netball is sometimes secondary to that. In some ways I guess it would be a tidy note for some of them to finish on,” she said.

She acknowledged the difficulty in keeping women at the top of their sport as opposed to their male counterparts. “There seems to be a lot more factors for women. They are constantly trying to find a balance and maintain it in both their personal and sporting life. But players do well playing off a stable base of experienced players.” The Young Internationals could well be elevated to senior national status sooner than they think.

“Coaching the Young Internationals is a big job and Vicki Hearfield (the coach) is having a positive influence on the next drop. The Young Internationals are a significant part of the building process.”

The new format at the tournament this year was prompted by Mrs Parker, and the early 40 minute games instead of the hour matches in different pools means that every team plays everyone in its grade. Mrs Parker considers it to be working well.

“I believe that it makes the tournament more interesting. I think the players adapt during the wwk to the 40 minute

games and the hour games at the finish is a good mix,” she said. “The competition between grades this year is consistently closer and the over-all fitness of the girls is better. There seems to be less taping of injuries and the teams are moving the ball flatter and more positively. It is also good to see the umpires warming up.” Although the weather has been unpredictable at times, Mrs Parker is well versed with its fluctuations in her home town. “It is not as bad as it seems. There is no wind and the conditions are warm still. That is very important. The wind and the cold are the worst.” Mrs Parker has also watched the Canterbury team in her relentless search for talent and felt that although the skills are there, the red and blacks have beeniplaying

as individuals and not as a team.

But she was not ruling them out.

“There are a couple of games yet and although some of its players are showing some inexperience at this level there are some players who are not taking on the responsibility as they should.” She commended April leremia, the New Zealand player, for her lead as captain of the side and was impressed with the defensive combination of Annette Heffernan (wing defence), Karen Burrows (goal defence) and Sharon Burridge (goal

Keep). Canterbury has been struggling to get a clean and decisive start to the 40 minute games but is notorious for being "slow starters.” The hour games in the semi-finals and the finals could give it the edge it is searching tpr. As Canterbury continues on its endeavour, Mrs Parker is concentrating on assembling a top line-up for the Auckland Commonwealth Games, and is aware of the pressure of netball being a demonstration sport.

“We have been turned down as a sport for the Games before, but it is important that no matter what the game is, it has to be seen as a good spectacle and we will play it that way,” she said.