The Australian Sports Commission’s Active After-school Communities (AASC) program has teamed up with Netball Australia to create an exciting new accreditation pathway for netball coaches.

Coaches who complete the AASC’s free Community Coach Training Program now have the opportunity to gain Netball Australia’s foundation level coach accreditation by delivering Netball as part of the AASC program. Successful coaches can then apply to increase their skills and experience through Netball Australia’s five subsequent levels of accreditation: development, intermediate, advanced, elite, and high performance.

Australian Sports Commission Director of Community Sport Judy Flanagan said the AASC program welcomed the partnership with Netball Australia, which will help support the training and development of quality community coaches.

‘This partnership will help to attract, train and retain a greater number of community coaches to help deliver sporting opportunities for Australian children,’ Flanagan said. ‘Coaches in the AASC program play a vital role in motivating kids to have fun, to get physically active and to develop motor skills in a secure and safe setting.’

Up to 150 000 primary school children participate in the AASC program each year — an Australian Government initiative administered by the Australian Sports Commission, which provides children with fun, free and safe introductions to sports and structured physical activities.

Coach development and participation manager of Netball Australia Carol Byers was also enthusiastic about the new partnership:

‘This pathway provides an opportunity for community coaches to gain valuable experience and to improve their skills,’ said Byers.

‘Netball will gain access to a network of qualified community coaches to help run the sporting programs [and] Netball Australia stands to benefit from the training and development of more community coaches and increased participation numbers in their sport.’