Diamond Mo’onia Gerrard wants a boost in netball numbers
BY MARK RAYNER
She said that while the talent and desire is there, athletes need to be playing more games more often if they want to succeed at the top level.
The Australian Diamond hopes that a visit to the city where she spent her formative years will help increase local interest in the sport.
“I’ve never coached in Bathurst before and it’s my home town,” she said. “I’ve got a lot of family here, so I just wanted to come back to where it all started for me. Bathurst has always been close to my heart and I wanted to teach these young kids how it’s done on the court.
“I want to encourage the girls to keep active and also encourage them to play netball, to show they can step up and play for the Sydney Swifts and maybe the Diamonds.”
Gerrard said one of the keys to increasing the quality of netball in regional areas is to increase the number of players at the grassroots.
“I guess the main area for improvement is that in the city there is more competition, more teams to play against and more games. As country kids, they just need more exposure to playing netball day in, day out,” she said.
“Once they push the membership and get more girls playing netball, there will be more teams and more games to play.”
She believes, however, that country kids do have one advantage over their city cousins.
“They are really enthusiastic and that’s probably the best start for a kid going through the ranks. You want to enjoy yourself and that’s something I did when I was younger,” Gerrard said.
“That got me through to today and I still enjoy it. You need that enjoyment.
“The funniest thing is that the country kids are the more resilient ones and they have the skills base that some of the city kids don’t have. There’s a lot of talent in the country areas and it’s just whether they get tapped into and exposed.
I’m hoping that it’s not just this one camp, that I come back for more and expose these girls to a higher level of coaching and hopefully see some of these faces join the club.”
The talented 30-year-old, who plays for the NSW Swifts in the ANZ Championship, was also promoting her new range of children’s clothes.
“I’ve started my own clothing brand called Monster and basically it’s active streetwear for young kids. It’s something I put together because, when I was a kid, some of the clothes I was running around in for training weren’t that cool. It is a line that gives a bit of attitude and self-confidence, because I am all about being yourself,” she said.
The visit to Bathurst caps what has been a busy period for Gerrard. She has just come back from the World Netball Championships, where she helped Australia beat New Zealand 58-57 in extra-time of the gold medal match.
It was a suitable revenge after the Silver Ferns came away from the Commonwealth Games with the top prize.
“It was an awesome experience. From the Commonwealth Games last year, there was definitely a better experience this time around. I’m still on a high and still haven’t hit earth yet,” she said.
