Mojo Pulse Appoints Sports Strategist Dearns as Head Coach

Mojo Pulse Appoints Sports Strategist Dearns as Head Coach

The next head coach of the Mojo Pulse will be the highly experienced Tanya Dearns, who has spent over 20 years coaching high performance netballers and is also an acclaimed sports administrator. She will take up the role on 1st August, following Robyn Broughton’s decision to step down at the end of the current ANZ Championship campaign.

The former Silver Fern was the assistant coach of the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic in 2013 and is currently general manager of the Bay Hawks National Basketball League franchise, picking up the 2014 Administrator of the Year award in her first year in the role.

Her netball coaching resume is impressive and includes work in Australia and the Northern Hemisphere, as well as significant head coach experience in New Zealand domestic competition, leading highly successful teams. She has also worked as a TV commentator, motivational speaker, events manager and political advisor in roles which were all centred around elite sport.

As a player, she represented the Silver Ferns between 1990-93 and 1996-99, including the 1990 Commonwealth Games, during more than a decade of service to Wellington netball. She was also an elite basketballer, playing professionally in Australia and also representing Wellington for many years.

Mojo Pulse and Netball Central Zone CEO Carolyn Young is delighted to have secured the services of a coach with such a wide range of experience and skills. “The modern sporting world necessitates an understanding and appreciation of the whole sporting picture and Tanya’s skillset is exactly what we are looking for,” she explained.

“She has proven coaching ability and leadership skills at ANZ Championship level, but her experience as manager of a netball region, general manager of a leading sporting franchise and many other key positions in the sporting world have given her a far wider outlook on what it takes to lead a successful professional sports team in the current environment.

“We believe her work in different roles across various sporting platforms will help to create a culture of success within the team and develop our players on and off the court. She is a coach first and foremost, but also a sports strategist with a deep understanding of the demands of the modern game.

“It is also a real bonus that Tanya comes from within our zone and has a passion for developing home-grown talent. She will actively contribute to Netball Central Zone’s high performance programme and assist with the talent identification of our best young players.

“Our objective is to win the ANZ Championship in 2018 and we will be giving Tanya latitude to build a winning team in that timeframe. Winning the Championship next year will obviously be on her wish list, however from an organisation perspective we know that it takes time to build success. We want to take what we have learnt over the last seven years and build a long-term high performance programme that will provide sustained success in the ANZ Championship.”

Dearns is relishing the chance to coach her local team and lead it forward to the next stage. “I’m excited about this opportunity and really looking forward to coming in and affecting some change,” she explained. “I’ve played representative level netball for the Wellington area and have lived in the Hawke’s Bay for the last 12 years, so I feel very much part of the zone.”

She believes her recent international experience will be invaluable in her new role. “I’ve certainly not been in a netball wilderness, and have recently helped to prepare the Scottish national squad for their recent international games including the European Cup campaign and also undertaken high performance coaching in New Zealand and overseas.

“I want to embrace and listen to the zone – that’s very important to me. Being visible and being engaged with our community keeps it real. We will need to focus on reducing the team’s inherent fear of failure which I think has had some affect their performance over a number of years. The players need to believe that making a mistake does not mean they are going to lose. It’s about “being in the now”!

“Of course the aim is to win the ANZ Championship, but we have to set realistic targets and implement off-season planning that is robust. It’s important to have a conditioning programme that will put the players outside of their comfort zone, but will also create a culture of cohesion amongst the team. We will be playing an open style of netball. I feel sometimes the game can be over-complicated. At the end of the day it is just a game of pass and catch!”

Although she expects there will be a fluid season schedule, Dearns is aiming to have four training sessions across the week that include the entire squad. She will also be looking to the zone to provide some of the playing talent. “Ideally, I would like to have an open trial to add to the core roster of eight or nine signed athletes, so we can see what players are around.”

Katrina Grant will return for a seventh season with the Pulse having signed for the 2016 ANZ Championship season.

“Although Robyn will be a hard act to follow, I’m really looking forward to working with Tanya next season. She has a great deal of experience as both a player and a coach and I’m sure she will bring a new outlook to the team.”

ENDS

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