Fond Memories for Aitken

Coaching the NZ Netball team to two Commonwealth Games gold medals and a silver medal over the span of nine years is an incredible achievement for any coach of any sporting code at a major event.

Ruth Aitken may now be based in Singapore as Technical Director and National Coach of the national Netball team, but she’ll be following the progress of the New Zealand team closely as they compete in Glasgow.

Eight of the team which won gold in Delhi four years ago are in the NZ team this time around, so will enter the competition with a lot of experience to draw from. Aitken’s fond memories of the Commonwealth Games started with the opening ceremony in Manchester, UK in 2002.

“I remember walking for the first time into the main stadium with thousands of athletes, and the NZ flag flying, when previously I’d only seen this on television,” she recalls.

“It was such an inspiring experience and I had to pinch myself to believe I was really there!”

Fast-forward four years and in Melbourne there was plenty to celebrate after being pipped in the Netball final by Australia in 2002.

“I vividly remember the NZ fans at the final, you would have thought we were playing in a home match, we had such fantastic vocal support.

“And the look of pure joy on Irene’s (van Dyk) face when the final whistle went and she heaved the ball high up into the air, then skipped her way down court to hug her teammates, as only Irene can do.”

Delhi in India in 2010 was perhaps the highlight for Aitken with the New Zealand team needing to dig deep like never before, against an Australian side which refused to give up.

“There was a fantastic sense of calm that the team had in the final stages of that epic match,” she says.

“Although everyone was drained and exhausted, they stuck to the task and really did ‘grind out’ the win.  It was an immense battle between two evenly matched, highly skilled and incredibly well prepared teams.”

“I especially remember the admiration I felt for both Laura (Langman) and Natalie (von Bertouch) the respective centres, for their incredible tenacity to be able to sustain 84 minutes of such intense Netball – they are both legends!”

Aitken believed to succeed in such a unique environment as a Commonwealth Games, the team needed to do ‘something special’.

“They needed unity of purpose, a true understanding of their roles both on and off the court and a willingness to put team before self,” Aitken says. 

“They also had the ability to embrace being part of the wider NZ team, while at the same time ensuring they recovered well and focussed on what was needed at the right time – it was the total race.”

Australia and New Zealand have made it through to all four Commonwealth Games Netball finals sharing the spoils of two gold medals each – Australia in 1998 and 2002, New Zealand in 2006 and 2010.

Aitken considers the emergence and confidence of both England and Jamaica mean Netball’s ‘big two’ cannot take their spot in the final for granted any more.

“England will have taken huge confidence from the way their top players performed this year in the ANZ Championship, and they now have strength in all areas of the court.

“Jamaica are always a wild card with their incredible physical talents and having had Jill McIntosh (former Australia coach), working with them for the last few months, I am sure they will come to Glasgow on the top of their game’” Aitken says.

“Both Australia and NZ will be very aware of their emergence, and I think there is no chance they will take either team lightly.”

For Aitken, her Singapore team won’t be in Glasgow this time around, but are preparing for the all-important qualifying tournament ahead of the 2015 Netball World Cup in Sydney.

“While Netball in Singapore does not have the depth of numbers playing the game as in NZ, the commitment from the national players is outstanding, as they are mostly still in full time jobs or full time study as well as playing Netball.

“I am very much enjoying the lifestyle change, being able to spend more time with my long suffering husband, the fabulous food and the access to great places to travel for long weekends!”

“The Asian Champs in September will be a unique experience for me. There are 13 countries confirmed to attend, which I think makes it the largest qualifying event for the World Cup,” she says.

“We have a big challenge ahead of us in that there are three top teams in Asia who are very evenly matched (Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Singapore), and Hong Kong has made strong improvement over the last twelve months, so certainly can’t be discounted.”

“Only two teams get to go forward to the event in Sydney, so we will have to perform to our best to get through. What a great challenge!”