Silver Ferns Coach Re-appointed

The Netball New Zealand Board today announced Ruth Aitken has been re-appointed coach of the Silver Ferns for a four-year term.

After a thorough review process the NNZ Board was confident that Aitken was the best coach to take the Silver Ferns forward.

Netball New Zealand Chief Executive Raelene Castle says the board is delighted to re-appoint Ruth to the position of Silver Ferns coach following an internal and external review, which examined the team’s performance over the past four years.

“We are confident that Ruth can extend the Silver Ferns’ outstanding record of international success achieved since she was appointed in 2002”, she said.

Aitken coached the Silver Ferns to win the 2003 World Netball Championships and the 2006 Commonwealth Games gold medal. She was named Coach of the Year at the 2003 Halberg Awards, and was a finalist for the same award in 2005 and 2006. The Silver Ferns were runners-up to Australia by 42-38 in the 2007 Netball World Championships.

Aitken said “I am very proud to accept the Board’s appointment and look forward to working to regain the No. 1 world ranking and retain our Commonwealth Games gold medal”.(Under a new system introduced by the International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA), world rankings are now determined by all international results, assessed continuously each year.)

Leigh Gibbs has decided to stand down as Silver Ferns Assistant Coach after six years in that role, to focus on her full time position as Coach Development Manager with Netball New Zealand and will continue to have a key role in the High Performance & Game Development programmes.

Gibbs said working with Ruth and the Silver Ferns has given me some of the most memorable experiences in netball and I’m now excited about helping other coaches make the most of their development opportunities.

“Leigh has made a magnificent contribution to the Silver Ferns and we are delighted that her skills and experience will continue to work with High Performance and Game Development to work develop the next generation of great New Zealand coaches,” Castle said.

Netball New Zealand will announce the process for appointing a new Assistant coach in the coming weeks. 

Additional Information:

-Ruth Aitken Silver Ferns Coaching Record: 68 games (Won 56, Lost 12) - 82%

-Gibbs is the only New Zealander to win world netball titles as a player (1979), captain (1987), Co-Coach of the NZU21 Team to win the World Youth Cup (1992) and Assistant Coach of the Silver Ferns (2003).