New-look management line-up for netball reps

A new management team has been appointed for the Wairarapa senior women's netball side which will go into this year's regional super league competition as defending champions.
Taking over as coach is Marion Tulloch and assisting her in both the coaching and selecting roles will be Debbie Matoe and Sophie Paki.The manager will be a prominent identity in the Wairarapa business community, Prue Hamill.
Tulloch has been a stalwart of Wairarapa netball over many years and has won huge respect as coach of the under-15 and under-17 age group sides who have achieved notable success at the top levels.
She has also had a close association with St Matthew's Collegiate, coaching their premier side last season and continuing in that position in 2006.
Former Silver Fern Matoe will be involved with the Wairarapa squad over a three-week period where she will assist with team selection and run specific coaching sessions.She played for New Zealand between 1993 and 1996 and repped for Wellington-based teams for many years at NPC level.
Matoe coached Netball Wellington region's under-19 team last season, a side which included Wairarapa players Rosie Mahoney and Julia Biggs.
Paki is currently coaching in the Hutt Valley area. She formerly lived in the Wairarapa and over the past five years has coached the New Zealand Army and Defence Force teams and the New Zealand Correction Services team.
She and Tulloch established a coaching rapport in the 2005 season, attending the same coach development sessions and bringing their respective teams together for pre-season and pre-tournament preparation.
Tulloch knows her Wairarapa squad have a hard act to follow as not only are a number of last season's successful line-up unavailable, including the then player-coach Kelly Sargent , but the standard of competition will be considerably stronger.
Three of the more powerful Wellington clubs in PIC, St Marys Old Girls and Wellington East will be taking part for the first time as will a Netball Wellington region development side.
They will be joined by Hutt Valley teams Naenae Collegians, Manaroa, Convent Old Girls and Maidstone United and Kapi Mana teams Norths and KBJ along with Kapiti and Wairarapa
The first trial for places in the Wairarapa team was held in Masterton last Wednesday with the second and final trial planned for tomorrow night at the St Matthews Collegiate gymnasium.
Under the competition rules teams are to consist of no more than 12 players for each game but Tulloch says there is every chance that the Wairarapa squad could number as many as 16 players so as to have adequate cover for injuries and unavailabilities.
"It's quite a long season and it makes good sense for us to have an extended squad," she said.
"And the more players we can get involved the better it will be for Wairarapa netball in the long run."
Tulloch was delighted with both the numbers taking part and the quality of play at last week's trial match and while she agrees the loss of several experienced players from last year's squad is a blow she is optimistic their replacements will step up to the mark
"It's an exciting challenge for the players to perform at a level higher than most of them would have played at before and I'm sure they'll make the most of it," she said.