Insights and revelations from some of the legends of New Zealand netball. This book is a fascinating deep-dive into the development of the Silver Ferns traditions, the evolution of team culture and the nuts-and-bolts of leadership at an elite level. Legendary players and coaches including Lois Muir, Leigh Gibbs, Bernice Mene, Ruth Aitken and Casey Kopua candidly discuss the highs and lows of their careers, and of the Silver Ferns, the effect of the intense rivalry with Australia, coping with gut-wrenching losses, and the resilience of players and coaches. For the first time the perspective of these key actors is the subject of serious analysis, and Will to Win offers a real insight into the psychology of a womens high-performance team. As such, it provides a practical guide for developing team culture and leadership for netball coaches at all levels. It also includes comments from Farah Palmer on women in sport and leadership, and a brief history of New Zealand netball, including the gains and losses as netball moved into a semi-professional era, and the struggles for sponsorship and for media recognition, despite it being New Zealands most popular team sport.
Dr Lana McCarthy is a lecturer in teacher education at Charles Sturt University, Australia. This book draws on her doctoral thesis, which investigated the ways in which captains and coaches have constructed the culture of New Zealands national netball team. She was formerly an assistant lecturer in the School of Sport, Exercise and Nutrition at Massey University, Palmerston North, where she taught physical education.
Dr Andy Martin is a professor in the School of Sport, Exercise and Nutrition at Massey University, Palmerston North. He has been involved in a range of experiential learning projects in sport management education, physical education, and outdoor education. He is the lead author of Outdoor & Experiential Learning (2004). He is also co-author of Legends in Black with Geoff Watson and Tom Johnson (2014).
Dr Geoff Watson is an Associate Professor of History at Massey University. His research focuses on sports history and he was one of the editors of, and a contributor to, Legends in Black: New Zealand Rugby Greats on Why We Win (2014). His most recent publication, co-authored with Greg Ryan, is Sport
and the New Zealanders: A History (Auckland University Press, 2018), a general history of sport in New Zealand.