Netball has been all about defence in New Zealand over the past four weeks, with two outstanding Silver Ferns players and coaches presenting Netball New Zealand CoachForce Defence Clinics for coaches around the country.


The Taumaunu-Willering Defence Clinics held in Hamilton, Auckland, Hastings, Christchurch, Dunedin and Wanganui all attracted strong support, with a total of 372 people attending the six workshops. 

Presented by current Silver Ferns assistant coach Wai Taumaunu and former Silver Ferns coach Yvonne Willering, the Defence Clinic focussed on the Key Principles of One-on-One Defence (Wai) and Zone Defence (Yvonne).

Both women were among the world's best defenders during their elite playing careers and are renowned coaches of the demanding art of defence.
It's an art worth mastering. To paraphrase the legendary American basketball coach John Wooden, "Good offence wins games; great defence wins championships."

Feedback from those attending the Defence Clinics was excellent and included these comments:

• "It was a fabulous course, I came away with some new ideas, which was great!"
• "Clinic content was excellent. Easy to understand, very good ideas that can relate to many age groups."
• "Very Informative, have used already. Great Stuff."
• "Wai and Yvonne are excellent presenters. They are great communicators with the coaches and they are also very good with the players."
• "Excellent presenters and of the finest calibre. This gave absolute credibility to the clinic."
• "Both presenters very informative and ran sessions professionally."
• "Yvonne and Wai are 2 of my favourites in the game. Both have their unique style of presenting. I found them both to be informative and knowledgeable."
• "Excellent presentation and the content was very useful. Using the drills and skills in training now."

NNZ CoachForce warmly thanks everyone who attended the Defence Clinics, the host regions (Auckland Waitakere, Waikato, Eastern, Western, Canterbury & Otago) that helped to organise them, all the demonstration players at each venue,and, of course, Wai & Yvonne.  

If you missed the Defence Clinics, there are still plenty of opportunities in 2010 to develop and improve your netball coaching skills:
Click here for the full 2010 Calendar of NNZ CoachForce Workshops for Coaches.


SLIDESHOW IMAGE: Yvonne Willering at the Defence Clinic held in Dunedin on Friday 19 March. (PHOTO: Noeline Scott, CoachForce).