Innovative Taurua ready for next big challenge

It is a rare breed that can both play and coach sport at international level but for incoming Silver Ferns coach Noeline Taurua it seems to be almost a prescribed destiny.

As Silver Fern No. 108, Taurua more than compensated for her lack of size in the shooting circle with her wonderful play-making skills, foot speed and quick thinking. She was crafty and creative, hallmarks that have also defined her as a coach with special qualities.

The innovative streak set Taurua apart on the netball court and has followed her off it through a so far, eventful and successful coaching career. And will now hold her in good stead after her anointment as Silver Ferns coach No. 11 and with it her biggest challenge to date.

Despite coaching off-shore for the past two years, netball in New Zealand has always remained close at heart for Taurua, her energy, passion and excitement about the job at hand not lost on anyone.

Taurua has faced many daunting challenges and expectations during her coaching crusade, showing the ability to turn the impending disastrous into triumph, as exemplified when Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic won the former ANZ Championship title in 2012 and her Sunshine Coast Lightning team winning this year’s Suncorp Super Netball title in similar fashion.

In 2012, and with their backs squarely to the wall after four losses to open their season, Magic stormed back with 12 wins before proceeding to become the only New Zealand team to win the trans-Tasman competition.

Similarly, this year, Lightning dropped their first three, were the last team to make the play-offs and roared home in telling fashion after winning all their Finals Series matches on the road.

“What teams go through and the character they show in reaching the final destination can be as much of a highlight as holding up the trophy,” she said.

Performance and winning are valued highly but the great drive for Taurua is to make her players better people, both on the netball court and off it.

The affable, easy-going and not always conventional mother of five is a well-respected figure around the netball traps.

She has now taken on the most daunting of challenges with the dual responsibility of guiding both the Silver Ferns and the Sunshine Coast Lightning for the next 11 months. It’s certainly not a job description for the faint-hearted.

“I’m ready for this and it’s all very do-able,” she said with her usual sense of purpose.

“I can’t wait for our first Silver Ferns training and I’m really excited about the international challenge.”

Animated and demonstrative on the sidelines, Taurua’s personality regularly bubbles to the surface.

It is part of who she is, her face regularly tells the story, particularly after a momentous win.

“I’m not going to live by double standards just because I’m the coach. I’m not really the sort of person to sit on the sideline like a dead duck and show no expression when inside I’m bursting with expression,” she said.

That expression, joy of plying her craft and follow me style have taken Taurua on a wonderous adventure which is now poised to turn another corner.