Pulse coach Yvette McCausland-Durie has been appointed NZ U21 coach through to the next Netball World Youth Cup in 2021. Photo: PhotoWellington
December 3, 2019
Successful Te Wānanga o Raukawa Pulse mentor Yvette McCausland-Durie has added another feather to her cap following her appointment as coach of the NZ U21 netball team.
Experience has played a prominent role in McCausland-Durie’s latest anointment after fashioning an impressive record in recent seasons when guiding the Pulse to three successive ANZ Premiership Grand Finals and winning an elusive maiden title with the club this year.
With 10 years of high performance coaching under her belt, McCausland-Durie will take the NZ U21 team through to the next Netball World Youth Cup in Fiji in 2021.
Assistant coach of the national U21 side which won gold at the 2005 World Youth Cup, McCausland-Durie stepped up to the head role in 2009 when New Zealand won silver and is now preparing for another tilt with plenty of productive mileage under her belt.
``I look back at when I was there previously, and what I know now, compared to what I knew then, I feel a whole lot more confident around what it’s going to take to truly prepare a team for what’s in front of them,’’ she said.
``That has come from experience through those earlier campaigns, ANZ Premiership preparation experience and time in the Silver Ferns (assistant coach) environment has all added huge value.’’
McCausland-Durie was recently named ANZ Premiership Coach of the Year.
With seven players currently in the ANZ Premiership eligible for selection in the NZ U21s, there is plenty of cause for optimism while the in-coming coach also praised the introduction of the Beko Netball League four years ago.
``I think the Beko league has created a significant shift,’’ she said. ``In past years our transition of U21 players to Silver Ferns has been depleting to where we were getting less and less making the transition, so this is a really good opportunity to push that a whole lot further in this next campaign.’’
After winning back-to-back World Youth Cup titles (2013 and 2017) for the first time in their history, New Zealand has built a strong record internationally at the youth level, with Netball Central’s Director of High Performance Waimarama Taumaunu endorsing McCausland-Durie’s credentials to continue the trend.
``I’m delighted for her,’’ Taumaunu said. ``She’s worked incredibly hard in the last three or four years, both on herself and with the Pulse. This is great recognition of the work she puts in across our Zone in terms of talent development.
``A substantial number of age-group and under-21 squad members are from our Zone and that’s a great tribute, alongside others, but particularly to the work that Yvette has done.
``She has incredible attention to detail and work ethic and I think it’s a great appointment.’’
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