The former Silver Ferns defender Tanya Dearns has been appointed coach of the Central Pulse for next year's trans-Tasman netball competition.
She replaces Robyn Broughton, who has stood down from the role following yet another disappointing season for the Pulse in which they failed to make the playoffs again.
Pulse coach Robyn Broughton has stepped down and been replaced by Tanya Dearns. Photo: Photosport
Dearns was the assistant coach of the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic in 2013 and is currently general manager of the Bay Hawks National Basketball League franchise.
Dearns represented New Zealand from 1990-93 and 1996-99, including the 1990 Commonwealth Games.
She has also recently worked with the Scottish national side.
"Of course the aim is to win the ANZ Championship, but we have to set realistic targets and implement off-season planning that is robust," she said.
"It's important to have a conditioning programme that will put the players outside of their comfort zone, but will also create a culture of cohesion amongst the team."
"We will be playing an open style of netball. I feel sometimes the game can be over-complicated. At the end of the day it is just a game of pass and catch!"
Netball Central Zone chief executive Carolyn Young says "we believe her work in different roles across various sporting platforms will help to create a culture of success within the team and develop our players on and off the court."
"Our objective is to win the ANZ Championship in 2018 and we will be giving Tanya latitude to build a winning team in that timeframe.
"Winning the Championship next year will obviously be on her wish list, however from an organisation perspective we know that it takes time to build success. We want to take what we have learnt over the last seven years and build a long-term high performance programme that will provide sustained success in the ANZ Championship."