The NSW Swifts are delighted to announce that Lenore Blades has been reappointed as Head Coach of the QBE Swifts Academy.
A hugely experienced mentor, Blades was named the inaugural Head Coach of the Academy in 2019, and despite two years of COVID-19 disruption she played a huge role in the elevation of a number of athletes from the Academy to the Swifts’ senior team environment.
With Blades at the helm, the likes of Sophie Fawns and Lili Gorman-Brown graduated from the Academy to make their Suncorp Super Netball debuts while rising stars such as Chelsea Mann and Audrey Little have cemented positions in the senior setup as NSW Swifts Training Partners.
One of the most experienced coaches in NSW, Blades coached against the Swifts in the inaugural National Netball League (the Commonwealth Bank Trophy in 1997) when she was head coach of the Sydney Sandpipers, and since then has also coached the NSW State Teams (17Us, 19Us and 21Us teams) through 15 campaigns – many of them national champions across the decades. She has also been involved in various Australian underage programs.
This year she led the Swifts Academy (which replaced the Swifts’ previous feeder team, the Netball NSW Waratahs, in 2019) in the inaugural Australian Netball Championships in Victoria.
NSW Swifts Executive General Manager Kath Tetley congratulated Blades on her reappointment.
“Lenore has created a wonderful environment in our QBE Swifts Academy which has allowed our athletes to thrive, and I think the proof is in how we’ve seen them fit seamlessly into the senior Swifts setup when invited,” Tetley said.
“The lack of game time due to the COVID-19 pandemic meant that Lenore came on board at a very difficult time but instead of having competitions to focus on she led a program that’s really become part of our team-first, one-club DNA at the Swifts and I can’t wait to see what comes next.
“I would also like to take this opportunity to thank QBE Insurance and Netball NSW for their support of the Academy which is a vital pathway for the rising stars of our game in this state.”
Blades said she was excited about the next chapter.
“I have loved every minute of my time in the Academy so far and getting to work with such a talented group of athletes within a Club such as the Swifts is hugely rewarding,” she said.
“This year’s ANC in Victoria exposed our athletes to just a taster of what the next level is like and that experience is wonderful preparation for the next stage in their development as individual athletes and our program collectively.
“In the off-season we have taken a look at the best way to streamline the program to ensure our athletes are given the best opportunity to deliver for both themselves and the Swifts, and I am really excited about where this program goes next.
“We are now in the process of finalising our athlete list for the 2023 Academy program and looking forward to announcing them very soon.”
