NETBALL - Gunson's high performance gets results

The influence of former Northland netball star Lyn Gunson has helped Netball North open a network of high-performance centres, with three starting up in Northland in recent months.
Gunson, a former Silver Fern who went on to coach the national team, has returned to New Zealand this year after coaching overseas and has been instrumental in getting the North Region Netball Centre Network off the ground.
The network is using coaching concepts Gunson developed while working in England.
"I developed these ideas in England and they were tested in the southwest, an area with a population of about 7 million people, so obviously there are a few differences to the model we are using here in the North but the basic principles are the same," she said.
Gunson was appointed as Netball North Harbour's new netball director in May and says she is "just a volunteer" for Netball North - which is behind the four regional high-performance centres that make up the network for a region stretching from Auckland Harbour Bridge to Cape Reinga.
Talent identification and development is the main reason behind the network for the biggest sport - in terms of playing numbers - in the region.
The Albany centre was the first to open in June, with a combined Far North centre - encompassing players from the Kaitaia, Kaikohe and Kerikeri netball centres - a month later.
The Whangarei centre got started about a month ago at the Kamo High School gymnasium while Rodney became the fourth centre to get started in Wellsford - giving six of Netball North's centres a place in the network.
The fledgling centres have already had their successes.
"Two girls [Kaeo's Elsa Brown and Kamo's Megan Craig] have been named in the national talent ID scheme, so that's been a pretty good result, so far," Gunson said.
To begin with, the centres are to coach players but the intention is to add both coach and umpire development to their function.
"It's very much a pilot scheme at the moment. We're working through the issues that come up when you start something new like this, so we can improve things for next year," Gunson said.
On average, 25-30 teenage players have attended the Whangarei sessions on Tuesday evenings and they have been coached by some fairly high-powered coaches, including Gunson herself and this week current Northern Mystic goal shoot Catherine Latu.
Whangarei Netball Centre president Judy McDonald said: "They're putting some manpower behind the programme, in the form of some big names, to make sure that the girls are getting the proper coaching and the proper development."
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AIMING HIGH: Northland export Catherine Latu, left, gives 17-year-old Netball North representative Ria Gunson and Jessie McClintock-Maihi some shooting tips at Whangarei's new high-performance centre.