When Matt Rollinson was asked by the Allenton Netball Club to coach one of their secondary school teams this year, he was surprised at first.

After all, he’d only coached netball for the first time the year prior, and that was for his daughter’s year 6 team, so coaching a team of secondary school girls he didn’t know was well outside of his comfort zone.

But, not wanting to see the team without a coach, he stepped up and hasn’t looked back, and now he’s happily sharing his story in the hope that it might help encourage other dads to step up in the future.

There can be a perception that coaching kids’ netball is a mum’s job, but Matt’s certainly not the first dad to take on the challenge and Mid Canterbury Netball would love to see more in the future follow as the boys’ game grows, at a time when clubs and schools are finding it increasingly hard to find people to give up their time to coach.

The interesting thing about Matt, is that while he’s the dad of two young netball players, they’re both still primary and intermediate aged. So, he has no connection to any of the girls in the Allenton Joint Tech team he’s coaching in Mid Canterbury Netball’s KFC/Bellissimo senior youth competition and is still in the very early stages of his netball journey.

But, the Allenton club saw something in him.

“Matt has played social mixed netball in the Formosa Summer League and we knew he was a good and fair player who really enjoyed the game,” senior club captain Trudy Dalton said.

“After being approached a couple of times, Matt was keen for the challenge of learning the new rules and understanding the game better through coaching.”

Trudy said the club provides plenty of support, and has experienced coaches on hand to help, and Matt has taken up the opportunities on offer, including sitting on the bench with Allenton Wilsons Windscreens A coach Mandy Verrall as a learning opportunity.

“I had only started coaching last year and they were nine-year-olds. My level of netball knowledge wasn’t high and I was worried I wouldn’t give them the depth of knowledge they should receive at a more senior level,” Matt said.

Trudy said it was great to have a male taking on such a coaching role, and Matt had really embraced the experience.

“Matt has impressed us with his research and hours of planning he puts into the team. He’s very focused on what the girls like and what they want from their netball season,” Trudy said.

Matt said he hasn’t regretted the decision and has certainly learnt a lot, looking at netball now in a different light.

His first foray into netball coaching was in 2023, when his youngest daughter’s game was struggling for a coach. He put his hand up to give it a go.

He had coached a few different sports in his time, including soccer, boxing and tae kwon do so the idea of coaching didn’t scare him.

Coming to netball as a new coach, he took up the opportunity to attend a futureFERNS coaching workshop run by Mid Canterbury Netball development officer Natalie Lucas.

“There’s good support and the coaching workshop helps you settle in and also allows you to see you’re not the only one learning,” Matt said.

“Natalie is easy to talk to and offers plenty of help, or directs you where to find it.”

Making the step up to an older group of kids has been a challenge as the game is far more complex than the year 6 games he’s used to.

“You need to have good knowledge of the game and know all the little tips and tricks - which aren’t so easy to find online,” Matt said.

He’d played a bit of social netball himself over the past 10 years, so knew the basics, but his knowledge of the game is now growing week after week.

He said the best part of being a coach was seeing a team come together, watching them develop their skills and enjoying the feeling when they win.

Netball is traditionally a women’s sport, but the men’s game is growing, and this year Mid Canterbury Netball has five boys playing in the senior youth space, up from one – the first – last year. So along with more boys playing the sport, Mid Canterbury Netball would love to see more men involved, whether that be as a coach, or a manager, or even an umpire, centre manager Erin Tasker said.

Mid Canterbury Netball currently has three men umpiring in the ACL Premier netball competition, and a couple of premier teams have had dads as managers in recent years.

Matt urged more dads to get involved.

“Give it a go. I reckon dads help bring a bit of toughness for the girls – I’ve certainly seen my team grow and get mentally stronger,” he said.

“And you’re not alone – Mid Canterbury Netball is there to provide support when needed, and there’s plenty of help online.

Allenton agrees and the club would love to see more male coaches in the future.

“Often dads, brothers, uncles are on the sideline supporting and understand the game, so why not have them coaching? More young boys are playing the game too so coaching male role models can only help the game,” Trudy said.

Article added: Monday 01 July 2024