Growing up Nicola Jones called Fairton home, and it was there that she got her first taste of netball – a sport that would go on to play a huge role in her life.

Jones played, and coached, and today her wealth of experience and knowledge of the game is having an international influence as a member of the World Netball Coaching Advisory Panel alongside some of the biggest names in the sport from around the world, including former Silver Ferns coach Leigh Gibbs, ex-England international and former Roses coach Tracey Neville, and former Australian captain Vicki Wilson.

The game may have taken her far, but Jones has never forgotten where she came from, and when Mid Canterbury Netball celebrates its centenary next month, she will be among those there making the most of the opportunity to catch up with old friends and reminisce about days gone by.

While netball has taken her around the world and given her so much, Jones said the grounding she got in Mid Canterbury was a vital part of her journey.

“Netball is an amazing vehicle for providing these opportunities and those foundation years in Ashburton were fantastic for growth. Netball has grown me as a person, made me confident, and given me the ability to work in a team,” Jones said.

Jones first played netball as a six -year-old growing up in Fairton, her height meaning she naturally became a defender.

“I was 15 when I made the Ashburton Senior A team. I was an early developer because I was 5 foot 8 when I was in Year 7/8, but I haven’t grown upwards since,” Jones said.

She went on to play for the Hampstead and Old Collegians clubs, reps for Mid Canterbury, and later for Otago after making the move to Dunedin.

Her first forays into coaching came before she left Ashburton when she was 18.

“There used to be a deck of cards with the Silver Ferns’ favourite drills on them, and that’s what I used to take to training. I used to take the deck of cards and get my drills from those,” Jones said.

“Looking back now, there’s so much I didn’t know.”

It was after her own playing career was derailed by a prolapsed disc when she was in the New Zealand Under-21 squad, that coaching really took a front seat. Living in Dunedin, Jones was taken under the wing of New Zealand netball legend Lois Muir, who she went on to succeed as the coach of the Otago NPC side in 2003.

Coaching took her far – she had stints coaching in Scotland, Zimbabwe and Sri Lanka, taking the Sri Lanka U21 team to the Youth World Cup – and she developed a real passion for developing coaches, which she said stemmed from some ‘local legends’ who had a lasting impact on her from her early days of playing netball in Mid Canterbury.

She’s coached some well-known players in her time – among them Belinda Colling, Anna Rowberry, Adine Wilson, Katrina Rore, current Mid Canterbury Netball president Ange Mitchell, and Anna Harrison, who is the guest speaker at Mid Canterbury Netball’s centenary next month.

But she’s also had a big impact at grassroots level through her time spent working for Netball NZ, particularly through the development of the Future Ferns programme. Jones said there’d been a lot of research done showing the benefits of modified sports for learning skills, but there was nothing for netball, so she worked with AUT and did research which led to the initial Future Ferns pilot involving 16 netball centres around New Zealand. That led to Future Ferns netball as we know it today.

Now living in Alexandra, Jones works full time as a growth advisor for Business South and the majority of the netball work she does is voluntary, including her role on the World Netball Coaching Advisory Panel, and the development work she’s doing in the Oceania region, which includes being the technical delegate running and overseeing the netball side of the Pacific Games in Honiara in November.

Jones said the netball side of the Pacific Games will involve nine teams and having already been out there a couple of months ago for a visit prior to heading to South Africa for the Netball World Cup as part of the World Netball coaching panel, she’s excited about the lasting legacy the games will leave behind in the Solomon Islands in terms of facilities.

A mum of three teenagers, including a daughter that’s even taller than her who recently made the South Island Secondary Schools’ netball tournament team, Jones has a lot on her plate. Lucky, she says, that she’s an active relaxer.

Jones said her years involved in netball coaching have given her so much, but looking back it’s not the wins and losses that you remember, it’s the culture of the teams that have created the most lasting memories.

No doubt many of those memories will be relived at the Mid Canterbury Netball Centenary, which is being held on October 13-14, featuring a meet and greet at the Hotel Ashburton on the Friday night, and a formal dinner at the Hotel Ashburton on the Saturday night with former Silver Fern Anna Harrison as the special guest speaker.

Harrison will also take some skills sessions for Y5-6 and Y7-8 kids on the Saturday afternoon with the help of the Mid Canterbury Netball Youth Advisory Group, while anyone is welcome to come along for a social game of walking netball from 1-2pm at the EA Networks Centre as part of the fun weekend of marking the incredible milestone of 100 years of netball in Mid Canterbury.

The centenary celebrations are open to anyone who’s been involved in netball over the years, whether you’re a player (club or reps), coach, umpire, bench official, volunteer or even a spectator. Theres’ still time for people to register by going online to www.mcnetball.co.nz, and anyone with any questions can call Mid Canterbury Netball centre manager Erin Tasker on 0273084688.

Article added: Thursday 21 September 2023