Academy netball coach shooting to the top of the pile

Written on the 10 December 2018 by South West Voice

South West Sydney Academy of Sport head netball coach Van Nguyen is shooting to the top of her profession.

Ms Nguyen has been selected to participate in a new scholarship initiative designed to assist in the development of highly motivated and skilled coaches across NSW and Australia.

The program is a multi-step initiative designed to upskill coaches who demonstrate an aptitude in coaching in a  high performance environment.

Ms Nguyen was talent identified by both the NSW Institute of Sport and the Office of Sport as a scholarship candidate worthy of continued high performance coaching development.

Her scholarship started with a bang she was invited to attend the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) World Class to World Best conference held at the Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) in Canberra.

The conference was designed to bring together high performance coaches, directors, managers and support staff from around the world to look at strategies to better support the high performance system of Australian sport.

Ms Nguyen has been coaching netball for over 15 years, from Liverpool's grassroots club level all the way up to Premier League.

She holds Netball Australia advanced coaching accreditation, is a registered physiotherapist and is also an accredited strength and conditioning coach.

Ms Nguyen said her coaching aims were to "develop athletes who can effectively communicate, are resilient, responsible and accountable for their own actions''.

"I coach because I enjoy helping people to realise their individual potential,'' she said.

"I have a passion for helping people help themselves, and most importantly, assist as many people as possible to become resilient, respectful and responsible athletes and valued community citizens.

"That is what quality coaching is all about.''

South West Sydney Academy of Sport executive director Gerry Knights said Ms Nguyen was an outstanding coach and fully deserve the scholarship honour.

"As head of the academy's netball program she oversees coaching across the sport,'' he said.

"This opportunity demonstrates how important the academy is in the delivery of programs to underpin Australia's high-performance environment and how closely it works with national sporting agencies as part of the national athlete and coach development pathway.''

For information on academy coaching and athlete development, contact executive director Gerry Knights by phoning 4627 7622, 0407 415 847 or email gerry.knights@swsas.org.au