The NSW Swifts are delighted to announce that Specialist Coach Natalie Avellino has been elevated to the role of Assistant Coach for the 2023 Suncorp Super Netball season.
A hugely experienced coach, Avellino has been part of the Swifts’ coaching team since 2019, playing a key role in two Premiership-winning campaigns (2019 & 2021).
She replaces Bec Bulley who departed the Club earlier this month to take up the Head Coach role at the Queensland Firebirds.
Prior to joining the Swifts, Avellino was co-coach of the New Zealand-based Southern Steel in the trans-Tasman ANZ Championship (2012-2013), while she also led Southland to their first National Provincial Championship in almost 50 years.
She was also Assistant Coach of the New Zealand Fast 5 Ferns in 2012 and had a ten-year involvement in the New Zealand Secondary Schools system which plays a critical role in identifying talent for pathway development.
A New South Wales native, Avellino made her name as a player with the Sydney Sandpipers, Melbourne Phoenix and Adelaide Thunderbirds, as well the Australian Diamonds.
A creative shooter and goal attack, she was part of the Australian team that won the 1995 Netball World Cup in England and returned to the national squad in 2004, going on to be part of the 2006 Melbourne Commonwealth Games Silver Medal team.
Avellino started her netball journey with the Model Farms Netball Club in Sydney’s North-West. From there she moved through the playing ranks and represented the Baulkham Hills Shire and Parramatta Auburn Netball Associations in her junior years.
Swifts Head Coach Briony Akle congratulated Avellino on her appointment.
“Nat has played a huge role in our successes over the past number seasons and is very people focused so we are delighted to have her step up to the Assistant Coach role,” she said.
“Over the past decade she’s assembled a fine coaching resume and her time at the Southern Steel saw them become really competitive in the ANZ Championship, while her pathway background gives her a deep knowledge of how our system operates.
“She has been an attack coach with us for a number of years and has a unique skill in how she reads play. This will not only give our attackers a new dimension to their game, but our defenders will learn a huge amount about how to read opposition shooters in the process.”
Avellino is ready for the challenge ahead.
“I am honoured to have been chosen for this role and really looking forward to playing a bigger part in our quest for another Premiership,” she said.
“I have loved being a part of what we’ve been able to achieve over the past four years and the connection between the players, coaches and wider staff is infectious.
“The Swifts have the proudest history in Australian netball and while this current group has already achieved a lot, I know there is a deep hunger for more.
“Briony and the leadership team have created a world-class environment and I cannot wait to contribute to it further.”
