AMMNAs first HP review celebrates early success and plans for loftier heights for international programming and ventures
AMMNA’s has this month completed a High Performance (HP) review of its international program, as it looks to embolden its current 2 year plan known as the ‘breakthrough era’ for the male category in netball. The review has identified 8 key areas of strength to build from in pursuit of continuous improvement for the world leading program, aiming to keep the Kelpies and feeder teams at the pinnacle of international men’s netball.
The recent growth in international programming has spearheaded the unprecedented rise of the men’s category, with world-first broadcasts, joint tours with Diamonds and Fast 5 expansion. AMMNA Head of Strategy Heath Brown cited the continuous improvement of its elite programming as critical to its current and future organizational strategy, not just the on-court success.
“The market entry of the Kelpies brand, the broadcast of our joint tour with Diamonds, the millions of new eyes on the game through media readership / viewership and the new regional activations have made the category a global entertainment product. The coaches and athletes are the stars of that show that have led us to have broken through to mainstream.” Brown said.
“We couldn’t have done any of this commercially without an underlying HP program that builds better athletes and teams, and that is what our staff and coaches have designed and delivered to a world leading standard” Brown added.
AMMNAs next phase of strategy (being designed this year) looks to leverage and commercialise this momentum, and find sustainable ways to fund the category growth. Brown again drew links to the quality and standard of HP programs as a driving force behind the commercial agenda.
“If our teams and athletes aren’t in an environment with world-class processes and programming, our quality of product drops and our progress is stunted. The calibre of our athletes behaviors, conditioning and skills has to keep lifting so we attract more participants, partners and fans. This is why we keep asking what we can do more, better and different - even when we are at the top of our game.” Brown said.
AMMNA’s International Director Clare McCabe, who runs the strategic execution of the HP review, described the progress made to align to the operating model and procedures in the women’s game as another pivotal piece in the forward strategy.
“The goal is to align the most critical processes we own and programs we run to the operating rhythms and models of Netball Australia. Whilst we don’t have the budgets of other national teams, we are already seeing vast uplift in selection processes, athlete programming and tour logistics which wouldn’t be possible without our growing relationship with NA.” McCabe said.
With 12 international countries now capped in international mens netball tests, the category has the depth to push for upcoming integration into global competition for the first time in history. This is the central measure of success in the upcoming new Strategy to launch this year through to 2028.
“Joint tours for National male and female teams has now been activated in four countries, and we recently had a meeting where over 50 countries had male national team programs in play or progress. The global expansion is already happening, and the coming four year cycle will see this scale and demand a world stage competition to permanently launch mens netball as a global sporting entertainment product.” McCabe said.
The below highlights are the key findings of the HP review that the administrators and officials for 2024 season will be on task to consider as possible improvement drivers to the program.
Coaching Calibre
The program being led by Elite or HP accredited coaches from age national teams up has resulted in significantly enhanced seasonal programs. For this reason, the review recommend we do all possible to retain those that delivered these outcomes, and continue to set standards for level of accreditation required to be placed in a national role.
Athlete Depth
The creation of selection camps has led to more depth in talent and should be continued with. The review identified a need to diversify the international playing opportunities for the top emerging male athletes through all feeder teams to Kelpies and not just age teams, including Fast 5 and Mixed campaigns.
Athlete Data
The 2 year roll out of our elite athlete profiling process is creating data assets we have never had to track year to year progressions. The review identified a need to digitize both the input process for pathway and Aussie coaches, and the aggregation dashboard for Aussie coaches and selectors view into this. There is also an opportunity to digitize this data for fan consumption.
Pathway Insights
Pathway coaches are sometimes asked to provide feedback on their states top identified athletes so we have 360 feedback loops pre selection. The review identified the need for this to be scaled across all state programs so we have insight being fed upstream into selection processes. We also need national coaches feeding downstream insights to state coaches in the pathway, to create clarity on what standards an athlete must meet so their programs can align to produce more Kelpies-ready athletes.
Program Roles & Responsibilities
Clarity comes from clearly documented and communicated processes so our networks keep across the way we work together as we rapidly change. The review identified Standard Operating Procedures for selections, programming and logistics are creating more flow and integrity in our HP op model, but needs to be continually iterated to remove identified friction points so everyone operates from their lane of expertise and reduce cross overs.
Global Growth
AMMNA has a critical role in global growth, and alongside NZ and England are helping to open new regions of growth. The review found this next scale period, we need to send our national teams to more diverse regions to activate new competitors in readiness for World Cups and Olympics.
Mixed Expansion
The mixed category is a unique proposition for elite team sport and a point of differentiation for netball. The review found the international selection process for mixed needs to be expanded to have a broader feeder pipeline across other AMMNA and Netball Australia channels.
Fast 5 Growth
Fast 5 is a growing entertainment spin out product for netball, with a growing international presence. The review cited how most male and female teams are plugged in from the 7-a-side feeder lists, with no domestic activation. A review needs to be completed between HP coaches to agree on a pathway for Fast 5 and the role it plays in our categories future domestically and internationally.
Stay tuned for the head coaching appointments soon who will work with AMMNA to continue to take the international game forward.