The Queensland Firebirds player Laura Geitz poses with their trophy following their win in the ANZ Netball championship final between the Northern Mystics from New Zealand and the Queensland Firebirds at Convention Centre in Brisbane, Sunday, May 22, 2011. (AAP Image/Dave Hunt)
Netball is perhaps the most female orientated sport in Australia, so it would be a surprise to many that one of the most successful netball coaches is actually a male.
Robert Wright is the current assistant coach to the NSW Swifts, who compete in the Trans-Tasman netball competition, ANZ Championship.
Netball in Australia has traditionally not seen males in coaching roles, especially not at the elite level, so it would be fair to say that Wright has faced great difficulty in establishing himself in the sport.
The fact that Wright is actually the only male coach involved in the ANZ Championship is testament to the hard work he has done to achieve the success that he has enjoyed. It also illustrates just how difficult it is for a male coach to break into the coaching ranks of netball in Australia.
Wright recognises he is a unique figure in the female dominated atmosphere of netball, which is why he relishes the opportunity that he has been given.
“I have been very fortunate to be able to coach netball as a full-time job,” he said.
“There are very few full-time coaches in Australia, perhaps only 15-20.”
However, being the only male coach in the ANZ Championship places Wright under more scrutiny than his female counterparts.
Many would think that because Wright is male he does not understand the game as well as a female coach would, however he feels this is merely a perception.
“When I first started coaching people were surprised to learn that I was a netball coach,” Wright said.
“Being a male coach makes you stand out from the crowd. It means you have to be really good at what you do in order to gain respect.”
Wright explained that he spends much of his time spread across a number of different netball orientated roles.
Along with his role as assistant coach to the Swifts, Wright also works extensively with Netball NSW and the NSW Institute of Sport.
His work entails several court sessions with the Swifts each week, whilst also working with the NSWIS development squads.
Wright’s involvement with the NSWIS development squads includes working with nationally identified juniors, along with emerging players from NSW.
He is heavily involved in the analysis of opposition teams and individuals for the Swifts, and also prepares presentations for individual players to assist in improving their own performances.
On top of this, Wright is also the head coach of the Netball NSW Waratahs, who compete in the Australian Netball League.
Suffice to say that Wright has significant influence in Australian netball and he plays a vital role in the overall development of netball in Australia.
Unsurprisingly with the scale of his netball commitments, Wright often struggles to balance his lifestyle.
“The job can require enormous amounts of time and effort, and you often find yourself at work when most other people are at home,” he said.
“My work often involves weekends and late nights, so it can be bad for your social life.”
Given netball’s historically low profile in Australia, it is difficult to see how a male could come to choose netball coaching as a career path.
Wright explains that when he was growing up netball was very much apart of his life.
“When I was young I always used to go to netball with my mum, as she coached a number of local teams. She is still heavily involved with the game today,” he said.
“She always believed that everyone should be able to enjoy playing sport, whilst emphasizing the importance of being a good person. That is something that has stuck with me forever”.
Wright’s mother, Jeanette, added that his sister, Judith, was a representative netball player during her teenage years.
“I think that because I was a netball coach and his sister was a talented player as a junior may have influenced him to start coaching,” she said.
“I guess you could say that netball was in the family,” she grins.
At this point she paused to show me a photo album of all the teams she had been involved with, “I have coached over 100 teams,” she proudly remarked.
She also noted that Rob was a talented netballer himself in his late teen’s, which enhanced his knowledge of the game and perhaps fuelled his desire to coach.
Rob seemed bemused when asked about his sporting prowess as a youngster.
“I played a number of sports when I was younger, however none of them very well,” he noted.
He attributed his decision to start coaching on an accident where he was hit by a car, which left him with multiple injuries.
“At the time, my ankle and knee were badly damaged, so I was unable to play sport for quite a period of time,” he said.
“I decided to coach while I recovered.”
In his early coaching days, Rob did not have a great deal of knowledge about the sport and initially found it difficult to establish himself.
He learned the importance of understanding people and helping teach them skills that made them the best players they could be.
“The first representative team I coached was a really difficult team,” he noted.
“Many players did not get along and we did not win many games. This taught me the importance of working with people and teaching them good skills.”
He joked that it only became obvious in recent years just how little he actually knew about the sport.
“They must have thought I was a dreadful coach,” he smirked.
“It did however motivate me to learn as much as possible about the sport.”
Certainly today Wright is one of the most recognised and highly regarded netball coaches in Australia.
The fact that he is a male coach has become much more accepted in recent years by players and administrators alike.
Wright believes if you’re good enough at your job, it should not matter whether you are male or female.
Samantha Poolman, one of Wright’s former players, noted that Rob was one of the best coaches she has had.
“Rob is so professional in everything he does,” she said.
“I don’t think it is a bad thing at all that he is coaching a female sport. I feel he understands us as much as a female coach would.”
She noted that Rob has had a huge influence on her career, highlighted by her selection in the Australian under-21 team.
“I think I am the player I am today because of all the work Rob has done for me,” she explained.
The success of players he has coached is one of the rewards for Wright; however he feels he is also judged by the same token.
“I have always been a huge believer that the players are the most important barometer to whether I am doing a good job,” he said.
Having coached a number of national championship winning teams (NSW), along with his role with the Swifts in the past two seasons, it is safe to say Wright has become a very successful coach.
Wright feels proud to have been able to help so many players reach their goals, especially those who have gone on to become world class netballers.
“At the end of the day I coach to make people as good as they can be,” he said.
“If I can do that I think I have done something pretty special.”
He noted there were still very few opportunities to break into elite level coaching, regardless of whether you are male or female.
This is why he feels so privileged to do what he does.
“I get to do what I love everyday,” he smiled.
“I am very fortunate to have a job that I just love doing. It does not even seem like work”.
With an attitude like that, it’s not hard to see why Wright has become one of the most successful coaches in Australian netball.
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