One of the finest shooters to ever grace a netball court, Natalie Avellino enjoyed a fine playing career that started and finished in New South Wales before she transitioned into coaching.
A World Cup winner with the Australian Diamonds in 1995 and a Commonwealth Games silver medallist in 2006, Baulkham Hills junior Avellino made a huge impact at home and abroad.
She came through the NSW State team pathway, representing the state at 19U, 21U and Opens levels before playing in the first National Netball League – the Commonwealth Bank Trophy.
She played over 100 games in that competition for the teams such as the Sydney Sandpipers, Melbourne Phoenix and the Adelaide Thunderbirds, while she also was an Australian Institute of Sport Scholarship holder from 1989 to 1991.
In 2000 she was awarded the Australian Sports Medal in recognition for services to netball as an athlete and after she finished playing in Australia, she went on to have a huge impact across the Tasman in New Zealand.
A standout performer for the Southern Steel on court, she later turned her attention to coaching.
She was co-coach of the Steel in the trans-Tasman ANZ Championship (2012-2013), while she also led Southland to their first National Provincial Championship in almost 50 years.
As well as this she was Assistant Coach of the New Zealand Fast 5 Ferns in 2012 and had a ten-year involvement in the New Zealand Secondary Schools system, playing critical role in identifying talent for pathway development.
In 2019 she joined Briony Akle’s coaching team at the NSW Swifts as a specialist shooting coach and was vital in the Premiership successes of 2019 and 2021.
In 2022 she was elevated to the role of NSW Swifts Assistant Coach for the 2023 Suncorp Super Netball season following the departure of Bec Bulley to the Queensland Firebirds.
