Otane Thirsty Whale have triumphed with a 16th Hawke's Bay premier netball title since recovering from relegation in 2004. They beat All In: Exclusive 50-48 in last week's final. Photo / Leanne Jude
Otane Thirsty Whale have triumphed with a 16th Hawke's Bay premier netball title since recovering from relegation in 2004. They beat All In: Exclusive 50-48 in last week's final. Photo / Leanne Jude
Hawke’s Bay netball coaching legend Annemarie Kupa has retired after guiding Otane through another title in almost two decades of dominating the major club competition.
But that, and the expansion of the farming operation of herself, husband Bevan Pickett and their family as they take over a property near TeAute this week, won’t stop her doing whatever she can to help Hawke’s Bay netball get back into Open women’s national championship levels.
Amid the perennial difficulty of putting together a team despite the abundant quality throughout the grades, the Bay won’t have a team at the tournament next month.
But it has been well represented at age-grade tournaments and has Men’s, Masters and Under-20 teams at the NZ Men’s and Mixed National Netball Association Championships at the Rodney Green Arenas, Taradale on September 17-20.
Kupa hopes to have continued input into the high-performance levels needed to put the best of what she believes is a strong Hawke’s Bay scene back in the national arena.
Needing to combat the impacts of top players leaving the region – for university, for national league opportunities, or other life issues – she says there is depth she wants to help nurture.
Matariki Huata, the 15-year-old goalshooting star of Otane Thirsty Whale's Hawke's Bay Netball premiership triumph, after qualifying for the playoffs at No 4. Photo / Leanne Jude
In her own playing days, which ended about 10 years ago, she was in Hawke’s Bay teams when they made it into the top eight at national tournaments, and she highlights the achievements of Hawke’s Bay players who’ve spread their wings to perform at the higher level.
The family thing back in 2016, Otane coach Annemarie Kupa with daughter Parris Petera, who now plays for the Tactix in ANZ national netball league. Photo / NZME
Most notable in recent years is Kimiora Poi, who as a Napier Girls’ High School (NGHS) student in 2017 won a World Youth championships title and is now an established Silver Fern, having also played for both Mainland Tactix and, this year, Southern Steel.
Others include Ellie Bird and Kupa’s daughter, Parris Petera, who both figured as the Tactix won the ANZ national premiership title last month.
Kupa’s part in the lives of netball hopefuls in Hawke’s Bay has been vast, with the last two decades including coaching Otane to 16 Hawke’s Bay premiership titles, and NGHS to two, in 2018-19.
The history of effecting a turnaround continues, and having missed out on last year’s final, when Hastings HSOG Huia beat NGHS to claim the title for the first time since 2000, Otane Thirsty Whale came back this year with a 50-48 win over All-In: Exclusive at the Rodney Green Arena in Taradale on August 6.
Kupa said Otane – a club with a whānau foundation but who train at Woodford House’s indoor courts in Havelock North – had a successful first round and an indifferent second, but qualified No 4 for the playoffs.
They hadn’t beaten “All-In” this season, but claimed the silverware with 15-year-old goal-shoot Matariki Huata on fire – shooting 39 from 44 in the 58-46 semifinal win over top-seed NGHS, and then 38 from 39 in the tense final.
Otane Thirsty Whale goal-attack Ashleigh Renata in a semi-final win over Napier Girls' High School. Photo / Leanne Jude
Otane had led by 8 points in the first half, but the scores were tied going into the final quarter, before yet another victory was achieved for such people as Briar Chalmers, in her 15th season for Otane, and Katie Beale, back from university.
Also in the team were Jade Poi, sister of the current Silver Fern.
In a competition extended from the previous Super 8, the second-division final was won by Havelock North as they beat Taradale 37-32.
All In: Kings, including rising Hawks NBL basketball star Ezra Eagle, beat Toki Toa 53-39 in the men’s final.
The club finals through the grades are at the Mitre 10 regional sports park headquarters in Hastings on Saturday, and the secondary schools premier final is between NGHS and Wodford House next Tuesday.
Doug Laing has been a reporter for 52 years, 40 of them in Hawke’s Bay, at the Central Hawke’s Bay Press, the Napier Daily Telegraph and, Hawke’s Bay Today, since its establishment in 1999. He has covered most aspects of general news and sport.