Plummer: “I’m living the dream”
July 21, 2015
The SPAR Proteas have arrived in NZ and will begin preparations for the first Test Match on Sunday 26 July © Reg Caldecott
Widely regarded for her netballing nous around the world, Norma Plummer is living her dream but admits it can come at a price.
The chance to test out a brand new kitchen and begin plans on bathroom renovations is again on hold for Norma Plummer who finds it hard to put down the coaching clipboard.
Plummer – best known for her role as Australian Diamonds coach where she won back-to-back World Championship crowns – was set to settle down in her Melbourne home when she answered a call from South Africa to coach the SPAR Proteas at next month’s Netball World Cup in Sydney.
Join the Silver Ferns on the road to NWC2015 – secure your seat to see them take on the Fiji Pearls and SPAR Proteas!
“I haven’t lived in the house for 16 years with my daughter looking after it. I had a brand new kitchen just gone in – the splash back goes in Thursday – and then I was going to do the bathrooms. Next minute I’m off again,” she says with a laugh. “It happens, but life is good and I’m enjoying it. I’m living the dream.”
Her biggest highs from nearly five decades of coaching come more from the players themselves rather than the medals, titles and championships.
“The thing is I just love coaching athletes,” Plummer says. “Watching them expand and improve, I reckon that’s better than the win half the time.
“You see a player after maybe six months of working with them really take that next step – you see it in their game and I think that’s what coaches are there for.”
Missed part one of our catch-up with Norma? – click here to read!
She puts her success on the side-lines down to one thing – her time spent as player-coach in her early years.
“Back in those days when you were made captain of the team you’d fill out the score sheets, collected the money, you said who was playing and of course at quarter and halftime, you look around and there’s nobody there so you’re driving the team too,” she says with a laugh.
“I think it was probably the best lesson for coaching that I could ever have got, without even realising what it was doing for me.”
Plummer said as player-coach, she was forced to look at every position on court which helped round out her ability to read a game.
“I love playing-coaching and I could go back and do it again. You could do so much out there and I thrived on it.”
When asked to coach the Victoria state team in the late 70s, Plummer was almost taken aback.
“I was like ‘hang on, I thought I was still good enough to play’,” she laughs. “Fortunately they wanted both and they said ‘you’ve been playing-coach your whole career’, so we went with that and we won nationals for the next two years (1977 and 1978).”
As a player-coach, Plummer believes she got closer to her players and with that a thorough dossier on netballers who would later feature in teams she guided to national and international titles.
“When I had to take over the Melbourne Netball Club, I had all these teams and all these players like Simone McKinnis, Roselee Jencke, Eloise Southby and tonnes more that I brought up right from 14-years-old and they spent their entire playing career with me,” she says.
“It gave me a complete understanding what these girls were capable of and where we could go with them.”
Knowing her players so well however makes it that much harder when it comes to delivering bad news to those missing the cut.
“The hardest thing for any coach is dropping players on selections,” she says. “You’re dealing with athletes lives and it’s never nice. You know you hurt kids and that’s not the aim, but unfortunately it comes with the territory.
“You’ve always got to remember that you’re making that decision for the country and for the best possibility to get you over the line.”
The moment that Plummer feels she can’t make those decisions for the right reason, will be the time that she puts down her clipboard for good.
“As a coach, if you don’t believe you won’t get your players to believe,” she says. “I don’t query myself in that way. If I’m taking a backwards step, I’m not going forward and for me, that’s when I’d finish and think ‘hey, I’ve had a good run’.”
Next: Norma Plummer has sat on the side-line watching some of netball’s most memorable test matches. Find out how she deals with the highs and lows of the heart-breaking losses and narrow victories.
Want more great insights like this, PLUS cool videos and special offers? Join the team and become a SilverFan today!
The chance to test out a brand new kitchen and begin plans on bathroom renovations is again on hold for Norma Plummer who finds it hard to put down the coaching clipboard.
Plummer – best known for her role as Australian Diamonds coach where she won back-to-back World Championship crowns – was set to settle down in her Melbourne home when she answered a call from South Africa to coach the SPAR Proteas at next month’s Netball World Cup in Sydney.
Join the Silver Ferns on the road to NWC2015 – secure your seat to see them take on the Fiji Pearls and SPAR Proteas!
“I haven’t lived in the house for 16 years with my daughter looking after it. I had a brand new kitchen just gone in – the splash back goes in Thursday – and then I was going to do the bathrooms. Next minute I’m off again,” she says with a laugh. “It happens, but life is good and I’m enjoying it. I’m living the dream.”
Her biggest highs from nearly five decades of coaching come more from the players themselves rather than the medals, titles and championships.
“The thing is I just love coaching athletes,” Plummer says. “Watching them expand and improve, I reckon that’s better than the win half the time.
“You see a player after maybe six months of working with them really take that next step – you see it in their game and I think that’s what coaches are there for.”
Missed part one of our catch-up with Norma? – click here to read!
She puts her success on the side-lines down to one thing – her time spent as player-coach in her early years.
“Back in those days when you were made captain of the team you’d fill out the score sheets, collected the money, you said who was playing and of course at quarter and halftime, you look around and there’s nobody there so you’re driving the team too,” she says with a laugh.
“I think it was probably the best lesson for coaching that I could ever have got, without even realising what it was doing for me.”
Plummer said as player-coach, she was forced to look at every position on court which helped round out her ability to read a game.
“I love playing-coaching and I could go back and do it again. You could do so much out there and I thrived on it.”
When asked to coach the Victoria state team in the late 70s, Plummer was almost taken aback.
“I was like ‘hang on, I thought I was still good enough to play’,” she laughs. “Fortunately they wanted both and they said ‘you’ve been playing-coach your whole career’, so we went with that and we won nationals for the next two years (1977 and 1978).”
As a player-coach, Plummer believes she got closer to her players and with that a thorough dossier on netballers who would later feature in teams she guided to national and international titles.
“When I had to take over the Melbourne Netball Club, I had all these teams and all these players like Simone McKinnis, Roselee Jencke, Eloise Southby and tonnes more that I brought up right from 14-years-old and they spent their entire playing career with me,” she says.
“It gave me a complete understanding what these girls were capable of and where we could go with them.”
Knowing her players so well however makes it that much harder when it comes to delivering bad news to those missing the cut.
“The hardest thing for any coach is dropping players on selections,” she says. “You’re dealing with athletes lives and it’s never nice. You know you hurt kids and that’s not the aim, but unfortunately it comes with the territory.
“You’ve always got to remember that you’re making that decision for the country and for the best possibility to get you over the line.”
The moment that Plummer feels she can’t make those decisions for the right reason, will be the time that she puts down her clipboard for good.
“As a coach, if you don’t believe you won’t get your players to believe,” she says. “I don’t query myself in that way. If I’m taking a backwards step, I’m not going forward and for me, that’s when I’d finish and think ‘hey, I’ve had a good run’.”
Next: Norma Plummer has sat on the side-line watching some of netball’s most memorable test matches. Find out how she deals with the highs and lows of the heart-breaking losses and narrow victories.
Want more great insights like this, PLUS cool videos and special offers? Join the team and become a SilverFan today!