Rotorua's McKinney named New Zealand under-20 men's netball coach

Men's netball coach Hemi McKinney led the Rotorua under-23 side to a national championship this year and now has his sights set on transtasman glory.

McKinney was recently named head coach of the New Zealand men's under-20 team, which he said was a "great honour".

"I am truly overwhelmed and humbled by this opportunity and I am ready for this challenge and the next step in my netball chapter.

"I coached the Rotorua under-20s in 2016 and we were runners-up, this year we won the under-23 grade at the New Zealand Men's Netball Championship in Invercargill," McKinney said.

One of his biggest focuses in his new role would be creating a pathway for young players.

"Just our youth, bringing them through and making sure there are pathways so they can slot into the next grade. We have to ensure we get the youth to attend and play.

"We've got two compulsory New Zealand camps, with the under-20s, under-23s, the open and the mixed. The first full camp is in February.

Rotorua's Hemi McKinney, left, has been selected to coach the 2018 New Zealand Under-20 Men's Netball Team, which Caleb Vercoe, Joshua Vercoe and Poutewha Te Kaawa all play in. Photo / Ben Fraser

"We'll also have monthly training camps for the under-20s here in Rotorua. This is where men's netball started. I started playing indoor netball in Auckland, started playing outdoor and found out there was a men's competition. Rotorua has always been strong," he said.

The New Zealand under-23 men's team will play a five test transtasman series against Australia in Adelaide in October.

"I think everyone's goal is to be successful. I had the opportunity to be the manager for the New Zealand under-20s this year at Easter weekend and we took out that tournament, it was a good learning experience.

"We have a young, talented team - a lot of them are still at school. There are eight in the squad of 14 who are from Rotorua. My main focus is fitness within the team, that's what gets you across the line. And the mentality of the players, so in those crucial moments you make the right decisions.

"I like seeing players come through the ranks. Men's netball is self-funded so you have to get buy-in from the players. It's an absolute honour to be coaching a national side. Especially because growing up with netball, we didn't have the options of the age group teams. You were in open or nothing.

"The men's side of the sport is definitely growing. The men can run faster and jump higher. With men they play on pure talent because it's not like the women who are trained throughout their life because it's their number one sport," he said.

He said having a base of Rotorua players made training easier.

"We're just an associate member of Netball New Zealand, it would be good to be an actual affiliated member so we can get some funding. It's all self-funded and a lot of these kids are still at school so they have to fork out of their own pockets."