NSW Swifts attacker Helen Housby has taken out the Club’s Most Valued Player Award for the second year in succession.
Presented by Principal Partner QBE Insurance, the MVP Award is the Swifts’ highest honour and bestowed on a player that has received the most votes from a specialist, independent Suncorp Super Netball panel during the regular season.
Housby now has two MVP titles to her name after she won it for the first time in 2023. Since the Swifts were formed in 1997, Liz Ellis AO leads the way with a whopping nine Club MVP awards followed by Catherine Cox AM with four.
A double Premiership winner and three-time Grand Finalist with the Swifts, England international Housby became a Centurion of the Club in NSW’s Round 3 extra-time win over the Firebirds in Queensland, and was also a standout performer in the team’s epic Round 14 win over the Giants at a sold-out Ken Rosewall Arena.
Swifts Executive General Manager Kath Tetley paid tribute to Housby who received the award at the Club’s Gala Dinner at Doltone House in Sydney’s Hyde Park on Friday night.
“Helen is a winner and has proven that in Suncorp Super Netball and on the international stage, but behind the bright lights she is one of the most humble, down-to-earth people you can meet,” she said.
“Since making the move to Sydney we’ve seen Helen grow to become one of the biggest names in not just our game, but across Australian sport.
“I know that not making Finals will sting a player like Helen, but some of her efforts this year were fantastic and that will drive a champion like her, and her teammates, to rebound better than ever in 2025.”
In the night’s other presentations Housby’s fellow Swifts Centurions Paige Hadley and Sarah Klau shared the Coaches' Player of the Year Award, while another Centurion – Maddy Turner – was named the Player’s Player of the Year for the second season in a row.
Hadley picked up her second award of the night when she was named the Members’ Player of the Year while Strength & Conditioning Coach Lachlan Wilmot (High-Performance Staff) and Events Manager Madeline Tatham (Club Staff) were named the Club People of the Year.
In the QBE Swifts Academy space Newcastle athlete Dakota Thomas picked up the Coaches' Award, while Blacktown’s Lauren Woods was named the Players’ Player.
2024 NSW Swifts Awards Winners
- QBE Most Valued Player: Helen Housby
- NSW Swifts Coaches Award: Paige Hadley & Sarah Klau
- NSW Swifts Players Player of the Year: Maddy Turner
- NSW Swifts Members’ Player of the Year: Paige Hadley
- NSW Swifts Club People of the Year: Madeline Tatham (Club Staff), Lachlan Wilmot (High Performance Staff)
- QBE Swifts Academy Coaches Award: Dakota Thomas
- QBE Swifts Academy Players’ Player: Lauren Woods
