Dreams Becoming Reality for Silver Ferns Manager

It sounds like a dream job, managing the Silver Ferns and for Silver Ferns operations manager Esther Molloy this is the job of her dreams.

Travelling around the world with the team, managing the players, sitting courtside at every test match next to the coaches, but as Silver Ferns manager Esther Molloy admits, a lot of hard work goes in behind the scenes to make the job look effortless.

Molloy has been managing the Ferns for the best part of six years and is about to embark on her second Commonwealth Games after travelling to Delhi with the New Zealand Netball team four years ago.

Throughout the 2014 Games in Glasgow, she says she needs to be available 24/7 for both the players and management.

“My role is to ensure they have everything they need and to guarantee that our day to day programme runs smoothly so the players and coaches can focus on the Netball.

“I’ll be liaising with the wider New Zealand team including other team managers and the New Zealand Olympic Committee (NZOC) support staff to assist throughout the period of the Games with day to day events, problems and resourcing,” she said.

“If I was to describe my role in the team, think… event manager, pastoral care and organiser of everything including logistics and people, I think that sort of sums it up”.

The behind-the-scenes preparation that goes into a pinnacle event like the Commonwealth Games begins months in advance and Molloy has been planning the operational requirements for well over a year now.

 “As you can imagine I have to manage a lot of checklists.  I keep in regular contact with the competition manager in Glasgow and NZOC staff to make sure things are progressing smoothly.”

“In January, the Silver Ferns, management and I all got the opportunity to travel to Glasgow as part of our UK Tour, so we were able to visit the city, venues and accommodation which was invaluable for us,” she said.

“I got to sort out - what look like - minor details, knowing the distance from the accommodation to the venues, where the nearest supermarket is and looking at the quality of the training venues and locations,” she said.

In her tenure as manager, Molloy has had to facilitate some unusual requests and making it all happen is critical to the success of the team both on and off the court.

“Knowing we were heading to India in 2010, we sent everything but the kitchen sink in the Sea Freight container to Delhi so the team could be self-sufficient throughout the Games.”

In such a unique environment like the Commonwealth Games, being part of the whole experience is something she never takes for granted.

“As I will never be an athlete selected for the Commonwealth Games, the opportunity to live in the athlete’s village with all the other countries and the athletes is amazing,” she said.

“To be able to immerse yourself in so many different sports is fantastic, and of course winning the gold medal in Delhi was the icing on the cake.”

“I have some great memories and even four years down the track, the players and I are still talking about some of the special people we’ve met along the way,” Molloy said.

“In India we were assigned a local Team Liaison, a fantastic woman named Swarti Sharma who, during her university holidays, worked at the Stadium ensuring we had everything we needed.”

“She worked tirelessly and became a real friend of the team and even danced with the girls in the changing room after we had won!

“I am still in touch with her four years on.”