Expectations will be on Bay of Plenty's elite netballers to be increasingly self-sufficient after the region's top coach attended an advanced coaching clinic after getting a BayTrust sporting scholarship.
Mary-Jane Araroa was one of eight coach scholarship recipients and has already used the money to fly to Dunedin for a two-day Netball New Zealand clinic, with former Silver Ferns coach Ruth Aitken as keynote speaker.
Araroa, who coached Bay of Plenty back into New Zealand's top tier at the national champs and kept them there last year, said much of what she learned in Dunedin was transferable back here.
"As a coach I enjoyed Ruth's sessions particularly and her focus around the Silver Ferns when they were in camp and how she went went about running things. Ruth's main point was around keeping the girls motivated, not only in training but through a whole season. There's a lot of external things that affect players but when they get back into that closed shop environment, it's about getting back that team mentality and keeping the girls motivated towards their next goal."
Aitken also talked to the coaches about pre-match and priming players for games, and taking more responsibility for their actions. "It's not about holding players' hands but putting expectation on players to do things themselves, not constantly knocking on doors and asking."
As well as the coach scholarships, Sport Bay of Plenty and the BayTrust handed out 10 athlete scholarships.
- BayTrust ATHLETE scholarships:
Callum Gibb (Te Puna), canoe slalom: Gibb is well on the way to making a name for himself, becoming 2011 Oceania under-18 champion, following on from national and Oceania titles the previous year. Currently ranked 94th in the world.
Carl Whitehead (Te Puke), canoe slalom: Whitehead has won the New Zealand secondary schools under-18 and Bay of Plenty championships, won first junior and second senior in the Teva series slalom and competed in the European Teen Cup series where he was fourth.
Daniel Kayes (Papamoa), surf lifesaving/waterpolo/rugby: Kayes not only competes in surf lifesaving and waterpolo, he is in his school rugby first XV and is an ironman champion at national level and in surf lifesaving. He has played for the Szeged men's waterpolo team as a guest player. His goals include winning four golds at the surf lifesaving nationals and helping the NZ under-18 waterpolo team to win the world title.
Derone Raukawa (Tauranga), basketball: Otumoetai College's basketball MVP, Raukawa is in Basketball New Zealand's under-19 3-on-3 squad and the Breakers under-20 team. Hopes to make it into the Junior Tall Blacks squad as starting point guard.
Joseph Millar (Papamoa), athletics: New Zealand's fastest under-19 sprinter over 100m-200m, Millar's goal is to break the under-19 national 100m record of 10.35sec and win the sprint double at this year's nationals in Auckland.
Julian Oakley (Tauranga), athletics: Gaining a list of top achievements, including first at the national road running champs, third in the cross-country senior boys and gold (1500m) and silver (800m) at the NZ schools track and field championships. Is aiming for the world junior athletics championships in Barcelona this year.
Kodi Harman (Papamoa), athletics/surf lifesaving: Won gold in 100m-200m at the national schools athletics champs and the Australian surf lifesaving champs under-17 beach flags. Has substantial chance of making the New Zealand Commonwealth youth team, surf lifesaving's performance team and the 2014 Commonwealth Games.
Mathew Lack (Opotiki), wheelchair racing: Has built an impressive resume of national and international events, including seven under-19 and two senior Paralympic records. Holds two International Wheelchair and Amputee Sports Federation records and was supreme Bay of Plenty sports award winner in 2010.
Morgan Seymour (Whakatane), volleyball: Captained Trident High's indoor volleyball team to victory at the national schools championships and was in the New Zealand under-19 boys' beach team for the world youth champs in 2010 and 2011.
Natalie Peat (Te Puke), surf lifesaving: Competed for the under-23 New Zealand development team at 16 and holds the 21 Clubs Trophy for most outstanding female from the 2011 nationals. Has an impressive list of goals, including the German Cup and the 2012 Rescue world championships team.
BayTrust COACH scholarships:
Pam Walters (Bethlehem), gymnastics: Took GymSport, a local gymnastics competition of 200 primary school students, and developed it into a nationwide programme of 1500 primary and intermediate school students. She also runs ARGOS Gymnastics club competition, one of the largest gymnastic competitions in New Zealand.
Aaron Osborne (Rotorua), canoe slalom: Still competing, he is also coach of the New Zealand development team and the Tauranga Boys' College slalom team. Has also been coach for Ella Nicholas, a Cook Island representative who has qualified for the 2012 Olympics.
Bay of Plenty basketball: 23 coaches will receive scholarships to attend the Basketball NZ level one coaching course.
Kurt Wilson (Papamoa), surf lifesaving: Has successfully coached the club to several national titles and will be travelling to the Queensland State titles as well as the Australian nationals in 2012 to develop new skills.
Melanie Anne Bennett (Tauranga), basketball: Director of basketball at Tauranga Girls' College, head coach of Tauranga City women's team and lead coach of New Zealand under-18 women's Koru tour. Also an understudy apprentice coach to the New Zealand Junior Tall Ferns.
Maine Mareko-Johnson (Ohauiti), basketball: Is a young up-and-coming coach who works with children from the Tauranga region. Having moved to Tauranga in 2010, has become involved with many of Tauranga City Basketball's junior programmes and took the under-13 boys' team to the nationals.
Volleyball Bay of Plenty: Three college coaches and one former elite player have been selected by Volleyball Bay of Plenty to attend workshops led by two top international beach volleyball coaches to improve their level of coaching and pass it on to their schools.
NZ Rugby League: Six rugby league coaches have been selected to attend a three-day senior club course.
Mary-Jane Araroa (Whakatane), netball: Coach of the Bay of Plenty Gold team, Araroa has attended Netball New Zealand coaching, umpiring and facilitator training in Dunedin as well as gaining guidance from elite coaches.
Dylan Henton (Ohope), badminton: A Bay of Plenty and Northern Region rep, Henton coaches at the Western Bay Performance Centre working with the best players in Western Bay, including the under-15 and under-13 Bay rep squads. Has also assisted in the pilot of Racqueteers, a fundamental skills pilot for schoolchildren.