Leading and learning Netball Manawatu

It was a social game between parents and children that ignited Chelsea Millar’s passion for netball. She was only seven or eight at the time and ended up playing her mother. She has rarely missed a season since and has recently been appointed the chair of Netball Manawatu.

“It’s an absolute honour being appointed chair, especially how young I feel in my netball career,” Chelsea says.

“I’m still out on the court on Saturday mornings as well, but I think that’s a good thing - I’m a player too, I’ve got real skin in the game.”

She recalls her most influential coach was when she was attending St Georges Intermediate School in Whanganui, Marjorie Keelty. The values Marj instilled in her still ring true and she loves getting out on the court.

“I’m competitive by nature, but I love the team element, working together and how we can support each other through a game.”

She played all through school, in rep teams and top junior levels and continued with the Massey University club when she was studying in Palmerston North. After university she took a role in Auckland and had an 18-month break from netball, trying soccer instead.

“I learnt very quickly I was definitely better at passing a ball with my hands than my feet!”

She became involved with Marist Netball after moving back to Manawatu for a role based in Feilding. She had explored the local netball scene but wasn’t successful at making a team, and luckily the Marist trials were later in the pre-season so she hopped over to give it another shot.

“I found my place with Marist, they were very welcoming and made me feel at home.

“It’s been 11 years now and I’ve been involved in nearly every way possible.”

Chelsea has played, coached, been involved with the development team and organised many social events. She has also helped the club develop its strategy as they grew exponentially over the 2019/2020 season and needed to put some processes in place to protect the club into the future.

Outside of netball, she has a long history with horses, including a few injuries that give her a few niggles.

“Two weeks before the University Games in Christchurch, while playing for Massey, I’d broken my arm from a horse, but I went as the manager to support the team.

“That was probably the starting point of my long list of injuries that have plagued my career.”

She has also had extensive involvement and governance experience with the New Zealand Young Farmers organisation. She held a range of roles, organised countless events and spent three years on their board before she technically aged out.

“But now I work with and for them, it’s like a hotel California moment, once you’re a part of Young Farmers you never leave,” she laughs.

After the Young Farmers board, she took a break from governance to focus on her business, Grass Roots Media, a social media and marketing business that works directly with the agricultural sector. During 2020 she decided she wanted to get involved again and applied for a couple of roles, Netball Manawatu being one of them.

“Netball has been a passion and one of my main sports for as long as I can remember, so it made perfect sense to me to volunteer some of my time and give back to the sport that has given me a tonne of experience and happiness over the past nearly 30 years.”

She is a member of the Institute of Directors and completed their essentials’ courses to build her governance skills, but she recognises it’s still early days for her governance career.

“I’m thankful I have a great team around me who bring a heap of knowledge to the table.

“And the outgoing chair, Deb Gurney, has been there for eight years and done a phenomenal job moving the board from an operational space, when they didn’t have many staff in the organisation, to having a full board of seven and an operations team that is still growing.

“The organisation is in a great place and I’m excited to be a part of it.”

Her big goals involve creating opportunities for the other board members to grow in the governance space and make sure they are a big part of driving the strategy forward. And ensuring they are all supporting Netball Manawatu’s general manager, Chris Gunn, and his team in the work they do for the members.

“There are extensive opportunities within the organisation for the players as young as five through to the elite, as well as our social teams.

“And I want to help the board to encourage, support and guide the organisation in the right direction to ensure we’re continuing to deliver top value for our players.”

And she wants to be visible to members.

“I’m still out there playing the game too, I want members to feel connected and know they are welcome to contact me any time.

“Netball has a great community and we all love being involved. I want to keep sharing that passion and supporting the sport so everyone can continue to enjoy it long into the future.”

Article added: Saturday 17 July 2021