Canterbury Flames coach Marg Foster (left) with Belinda Charteris after defeat in the grand final to Southern Sting in 2000. Photo / Getty Images
Jane Sewell for LockerRoom
Marg Foster has never shied away from a battle, whether it’s been as the 96th netballer to wear the silver fern, as a coach guiding some of the country’s best players, taking on breast cancer, or as a mentor to women in her hometown of Christchurch.
The feisty former midcourter, who turned 56 yesterday, relishes a challenge. Especially when it involves one of her own.
Like many throughout the country, Foster is pleased to finally see the reinstatement of Silver Ferns head coach Dame Noeline Taurua, after what can only be described as a seven-week mess played out in the public arena.
Foster has been vocal and very public in her support of Taurua, whom she says deserves more. She’s now put the challenge to Netball New Zealand to allow the “national treasure” to leap back in the saddle sooner than has been stated.
She pulls no punches when she says Taurua must go on next month’s Northern Tour to the UK and that the reinstated coach will be at an unfair disadvantage heading into a pinnacle event next year if she’s not on that plane.
“Noels needs to travel with that group. It’s absolutely critical she does because of the Commonwealth Games next year over there,” Foster says. “She should definitely be back this year following her plan.
“The management group need to be in the UK. I truly believe Noels and Debs [Fuller, her assistant coach] can take the Ferns to the next level.”
Foster doesn’t stop there and feels the governing body needs to go a step further.
“Netball New Zealand need a complete reset and also need to make more of a public apology to Noels. They really did attack her integrity and her mana,” she says.
It’s been a long seven weeks since Taurua was sensationally stood down as national coach just days out from the Taini Jamison Trophy series against South Africa.
Breakdowns in talks over proposed changes to the Silver Ferns programme were behind the stand-down of Taurua and her coaching staff, and what followed brought a constant rumble of discontent from the public, unprecedented pressure on the Silver Ferns playing group and even attention from Sport Minister Mark Mitchell, who wanted the issue resolved as quickly as possible.
Whether or not they were bowing to public pressure, Netball NZ confirmed in a statement on Saturday that Taurua would be reinstated immediately, after both parties agreed to “implement enhancements to support wellbeing and performance, including strengthening the player voice”.
However, the “immediately” would happen after the Northern Tour, to minimise disruption to the Ferns camp.
After losing the first two tests against Australia by 17 goals, clearly affected by mental fatigue, the Silver Ferns completely turned the tables, winning 61-52, to keep the Constellation Cup alive. They won again on Wednesday night in the final test in Christchurch, Foster’s hometown, defeating the Australians by 62-57 to level the series 2-2.
The two sides played a tense extra-time series decider, which the Diamonds won 12-11.
Does Foster think the Ferns’ turnaround was influenced by the Taurua news? “Yes,” she says. “As these players need to prove themselves, they played with plenty of heart.”
Like she’s done throughout the coaching saga, Foster has talked to her social media followers about the latest update.
“It’s kind of therapeutic,” she says of the chats she shares online. “But it’s one of the ways I can show support for someone who doesn’t deserve to be going through this.”
Foster and Taurua have been good friends for more than 30 years – the friendship starting when they both wore the Silver Fern in 1994 – but the proud Cantabrian says it’s not just those bonds that have fuelled her disbelief at what unfolded from September 10.
“I’d be just as vocal for anyone else that I had the utmost respect for – I’d be going in to bat for anyone because I don’t like seeing something so unjust,” she says. “The dots just haven’t connected.”
Netball remains an area of her life she’s truly passionate about – something that started 40 years ago in Canterbury colours as a player and saw her go on to coach some of the country’s best netballers.
Foster hasn’t slowed a beat since stepping away from coaching on the domestic scene and her passion for sport is as strong as ever since starting the Motivationz Academy with her husband, Anthony, in 2008.
“Motivationz was born through me coming back from Invercargill having been beaten by the [Southern] Steel and I moaned to my husband that our fundamental skills let us down,” she says.
“Anthony owned a swim school at the time and said to me: ‘Why don’t you open a netball school like my swim school and teach them the basics earlier?’ And away we went.”
Foster is incredibly proud of what she sees happening with the youth in their region.
“I think Motivationz is our biggest achievement,” she says. “This came about through helping young people learning the basic skills of netball and to learn to swim. From that evolved our informal mentoring of our mates’ families and friends and acquaintances.”
Now they work closely with the Government to support young people into employment, education or training on a weekly basis.
Foster says mentoring young people doesn’t really feel like work and the reward is seeing them achieve.
“Not everyone that comes through our doors is very sporty, but sport is still our common thread, and we’ve certainly seen the impact that sport can have on young people’s lives.”
That success prompted Foster to branch out even further, as she and fellow business partner Chris Koraka founded Inspire Me Women – a community for women that focuses on connection, professional and personal growth, and inspiring participants through events and workshops.
Starting in 2018, the duo wanted to create a supportive network for women to connect, share knowledge and be inspired.
“The charitable work we do on this space as well as lift women up to be the best versions of themselves is once again super-rewarding,” Foster says.
Having worked alongside mental skills coach Gilbert Enoka during her netball career, Foster liked what he brought to the table with sports teams and wanted to share that with women in particular.
“I am a big fan of Gilbert Enoka as he was my very first sports psychologist and mental skills trainer and I wanted to be like Berty in my latter years. I loved how he went into sports teams and created the culture.”
Foster could see that effect happening with Inspire Me Women, and she’s helped organise events like Pinkalicious for breast cancer – something close to her heart after starting that journey in 2006 with her own breast cancer diagnosis – along with workshops for wāhine featuring female presenters.
“We love to see others do well. It’s a real buzz and honour to be able to inspire at any level,” she says.
It’s a common thread woven throughout Foster’s life – firstly as a primary school teacher at local Aranui school, St James, to her netball coaching career, guiding teams including the Canterbury Flames, and assisting with both the Waikato-BOP Magic and Southern Steel, as well as being called in as a specialist coach with the Silver Ferns.
It’s been about helping others to achieve their best.
“I always wanted to be a teacher growing up and I remember having all the children round the neighbourhood coming to my house and we’d be learning the alphabet or whatever and I’d be giving them a star and a tick,” she says with a laugh.
“At a really young age I just had this thing about being a teacher and so it just felt natural to go into coaching.
“Even as a player, I felt like I was going to be a better coach than I was as a player.”
Not that Foster was a slouch on the netball court. A feisty athlete, she combined her natural speed and ball distribution to ensure she made an impact through the midcourt for whichever team she stepped out for – her Hearts club in Christchurch, Canterbury, the Flames or for her country, making her debut in black in Dunedin against Trinidad and Tobago in 1992.
But with her passion for the game and drive to see others succeed, she found her sweet spot on the sidelines as a coach.
When Canterbury Flames coach Leigh Gibbs left for a high-performance role in Wales in 2000, Foster successfully applied for the coaching role of the Flames and from 2002-07 she was part of one of the most entertaining domestic rivalries, with Robyn Broughton’s Sting.
The two teams met three times in the domestic league’s grand final under Foster’s eye, and while they didn’t come away with the spoils, it was a period the coach enjoyed immensely.
“When I took over it was just a 24/7 job for me. I wasn’t paid but the amount of effort and energy that I put into that team, it was just a passion to see these players do well,” she says.
Foster admits she’d be remembered for being a “pretty hard-arse” coach but says her guidance always came from a place of love.
“Why else would you do this job? It really is about getting the best out of a group of individuals and bringing them together to get the best out of them as a team. I’ve wanted to empower others to go forward and succeed.”
She’s also coached New Zealand A, the New Zealand Men, and taken her skills abroad with stints as head coach of the Cook Islands and Loughborough Lightning in the UK.
As a player, a coach and now as a mentor, it’s always been about the people.
“The best thing is he tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata – it’s all about the people, and the connections made,” Foster says. “To support people to be their best or working towards being a little bit better than the day before.”
It’s possibly what’s irked Foster most during the Silver Ferns coaching saga – knowing well what drives Taurua.
“Noels is about people. She’s about getting the best out of them,” she says.
Foster – made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the 2009 Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to netball – gained good insight into Taurua’s coaching methods when she was her assistant coach with the Magic in 2011.
What sticks with her most is Taurua’s ability to connect with players and her care for them.
“Her biggest thing is communication and connection. But she was also really visionary and so creative,” Foster says.
“Coming from a teaching background, I was a coach who had to plan everything, and have it written down, but she’d look at that and say, ‘Put that down because you’ve got to get a feel of the players and a feel for where they’re at’. We connected really well as people, but she was also incredible for my coaching.
“She’d be my dream coach to have if I was playing still and I think we should be doing everything we can to hold on to her.”
This story was originally published at Newsroom.co.nz and is republished with permission.