At the end of 2024, Tara Steel was at a crossroads. After 15 years of committed study, hard work and challenging disruptions, including the COVID-19 pandemic, she had achieved her goal of completing her High Performance Accreditation through Netball Australia. But, like many aspiring netball coaches in Australia, Steel realised that opportunities to coach at that next level were few and far between here at home.
“[I could have] remained in Canberra in the pathway here,” she said. “But there is no Super Netball Club. Or, [I could have looked] interstate where there were different opportunities coming up.”
But it was a conversation with Jill McIntosh that piqued Steel’s interest. “Jill had some work here in the ACT and had just returned from working in Singapore at their Asian Championships last year. She flagged with me whether I had thought about different international opportunities. I hadn’t really thought too much about it, but then, at the same time, I started to see some of the other roles advertised through some of the other Pacific Nations. So, I did some research and thought the Singapore role would certainly be a good role for me.”
That role is as the National Coach and Technical Director at Netball Singapore. It is an all-encompassing role that will see Steel lead Singapore’s national team, the Vandas, and have her oversee the development of coaches and athletes in their national development pathways.
Tara Steel is ready to hit the ground running in April. Image supplied by Netball Singapore.
“Singapore’s athletes aren’t professional in terms of training, pay and contact hours. They are still training full-time but are also juggling study or career commitments alongside netball. In my experience working at the levels and pathways that I have, that [dual focus] is what I am familiar with as well. I’ve coached athletes who come to training before school or before work or after school and after work, and netball is a choice that they have to fit in and around the other commitments.
“[My role is] to get the systems in play that will help elevate the standard in terms of the athletes right through the program. I see my role as how can we adapt and evolve what we are doing, in particular, with the national program, but also the underage program to ensure that we are producing quality athletes and netballers and ensuring they have the support that they need while they are still juggling those other commitments for a period of time to come.”
Steel has a unique skill set that will help her balance those dual roles. She is currently the ACT’s U19s assistant coach, a role which she will hand off to the next coach after the Australian National Championship at the end of April. She also has 12 years’ experience working in a technical role for Touch Football Australia and other coaching, officiating and umpiring experience in the Netball Australia Pathways. For Steel, this exciting role with Netball Singapore is a chance to be challenged but also to add value to their netball program and, hopefully, the sport internationally.
Netball Singapore has a long and sparkling coaching history. Steel takes the helm from New Zealand high-performance coach Annette Bishop, who started as an analyst for Netball Singapore in 2015 before stepping up as head coach in 2022. Other renowned coaches who have impacted Singapore include Ruth Aitken, Lisa Beehag and Melbourne Vixen’s head coach Simone McKinnis, who has worked in the Singapore school system. From Steel’s perspective these coaches have each laid a great foundation from which she can build.
“For me, coming in as the new coach, and also for the program, it is not just about the winning. It is how we are performing. It is how we are executing the game plan out on court. And how we continue to progress on some really great foundations that have been set prior to now. The team won the Asian Championship last year. That is the first time they have won the tournament in over ten years. So, that is a great foundation to build on. It is now how we move forward and continue to improve our competition standard, not just about the on-court results but also the way we play and the style of game we play that can continue to challenge internationally.”
Tara Steel hopes that Netball Singapore can be invited to compete in the Pacific Aus Netball Series again in the near future. Image: Simon Leonard
For the next few weeks, Steel will wrap up her commitments here in Australia before making the full-time move to Singapore at the end of April. Once she lands, she will have just eight weeks with the side before leading the Vandas at the Nations Cup in the UAE in June. After that is the Nations Cup in November and the South East Asian Games in December.
“They are back in the gym and will be back on court soon. My first goal is to build on my relationships and connections and build on the strengths and the areas we need to work on that I have observed individually. Also, we need to work on game plans and strategy perspectives based on our opponents for the UAE Cup. I am really looking forward to that.
Beyond that we will see what other opportunities we can find between July and November for the opens group. For the 21s group, there are a few other key events that I will be supporting. So, lots of netball to come.”
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Check out the Netball Singapore press release here.
Or watch Georgia Doyle’s full interview and learn more about Tara Steel on our YouTube. Out Now.
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