England coach named
Australian-born Sue Hawkins has been named as England Netball's new national coach.
Last Updated: 23/12/07 4:50pm
Former Auckland Diamonds head coach Sue Hawkins has been named as England Netball's new national coach.
Hawkins will take up her new position in February in time to observe a young England representative squad in competition in the Netball Europe championships in Glasgow.
In addition to her time in New Zealand, Hawkins has also worked as senior netball coach at the acclaimed Australian institute of sport, and also spent time as the high performance manager at the Australian Netball Association.
England director of netball Nigel Holl insists her range of experience will make a big difference to the national team set up.
Qualities
"Sue's knowledge and understanding of the antipodean style of play, both from her time in Australia and New Zealand, will be vital to ensure that England continues to challenge and learns to defeat the world's leading teams on a regular basis," he said.
"As a former international shooter herself, Sue has a wealth of experience which will help our attacking players to continue their recent rapid improvements, and her appointment is designed to build on the progression which the England squad has made in the last four years under her predecessor, Marg Caldow."
Caldow coached England to bronze at the Commonwealth Games in 2006 but they failed to win a medal at the world championship in November and her contract was not renewed.
Hawkins' first competitive outing will be against the emerging stars of Malawi in April, but her biggest test is sure to come on tour to New Zealand in October.
