Two well-known figures in the South Australian netball world have been recognised for their achievements as coaches in 2021.
Jake Taylor has been crowned the winner of the Woolworths Coach of the Year Award (Community) for his work with Hummocks Netball Club (HNC), while Netball SA Premier League 2021 premiership coach Leanne Eichler has been named the Woolworths Performance Development Coach of the Year. Both awards were presented by Woolworths.
Taylor was named as a finalist for the community award earlier this month alongside strong contenders Fiona Bussenschutt from Paskeville Netball Club and Nancy Moulds from Uraidla Netball Club.
He was ultimately named the winner for the culture he has created at HNC and the commitment he has shown to his players.
As Senior Coordinator and A1 coach, Taylor has dedicated many hours to developing a successful culture at the club and uniting all members from a range of ages and backgrounds to come together.
He has upheld a strong focus on creating positive moral and community wellbeing, which has resulted in success for the club, including back-to-back premierships and all five senior grades finishing in the top two in 2021.
Taylor has offered high-level skill coaching sessions with elite netballers, mindset and wellbeing sessions, team building and umpire development - opportunities which are uncommon and highly valued in regional communities.
Off the court, Taylor has proven to be a passionate organiser, coordinating more than eight events in 2021 alone for the community to come together.
Outside of HNC, Taylor’s impact and commitment to netball is far-reaching. He volunteers as assistant coach for Garville Netball Club’s Premier League Reserves as well as the 23 and under Men’s SA national teams and is apprentice coach for the open men’s SA national team.
In addition, Jake is undertaking his SA pathway coaching accreditation - all opportunities that bolster his growth and self-development.
For Premier League, long-standing head coach of Contax Netball Club Leanne Eichler has won the Woolworths Performance Development Coach of the Year for 2021.
As head coach of Contax for over 10 years, Leanne has shown consistent dedication to developing her athletes and giving them opportunities to progress to the elite level.
Her commitment as a high performance coach is undeniable and her success at Premier League Level is a direct result of her focus in developing and promoting junior players through the club’s pathway to the Elite level and beyond.
The ongoing success across all Junior pathway grades and the ability for Contax to remain highly competitive from Junior through to Premier League can be attributed to the Contax Academy Programs developed and run under Leanne’s guidance.
Contax has been awarded the Club Excellence Award by Netball SA 8 from 10 years under Leanne’s high performance pathway.
To top it all off, she won her sixth Premiership with the club in 2021.
