The NSW Swifts are excited to announce that long-time high performance coach Lenore Blades has been appointed Head Coach of the QBE Swifts Academy.
Blades comes with a wealth of experience, having coached the Netball NSW Waratahs to silver this year in the 2019 Australian Netball League, and the Sydney Sandpipers in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy era. She has also coached the NSW 17s, 19s and 21s through 15 campaigns, and been an Australian underage selector.
With the backing of the NSW Swifts’ principal partner QBE Insurance, the Academy will start operation at Netball Central in Sydney Olympic Park later this year.
The QBE Swifts Academy will provide a pathway opportunity and daily training environment for home-grown NSW athletes who have the potential to play for the club in the future. Up to 22 athletes, including Swifts training partners, will be identified by NSW Swifts selectors to be in the Academy, while the NSW Waratahs ANL team will be selected from Academy athletes.
Acting as part of the wider NSW Swifts high-performance team, Lenore will be joined by a strength and conditioning coach and a number of specialist coaches and performance-related roles. Together they will take the players through high-performance court sessions, strength and conditioning sessions, and programs involving performance analysis, skill and movement mentoring, sports psychology and recovery.
Nikki Horton, General Manager of the NSW Swifts, said she was thrilled to have Lenore in the top job.
“I’m very excited about the future of NSW talent here and Lenore is an incredible coach who gets the very best of out her athletes.
“She really understands the game from both a coach and player perspective, and also understands how much of a rich history the NSW Swifts has as a club.
“Lenore has a fantastic track record of success so with her at the helm of the academy in its inaugural year, I know she’s going to do great things for its future.”
The QBE Swifts Academy athlete applications are open now, with the finalised list to be announced in due course.
