Double Premiership-winning NSW Swifts Head Coach Briony Akle has put pen to paper with the club for another two years.
Akle’s new contract, which locks her in with the seven-time Premiers until the end of 2023, comes after she secured a second title in two years and the Swifts’ roster for the 2022 Suncorp Super Netball season.
A double Swifts Premiership champion as a player too (2001, 2004), Akle started her coaching journey by working her way through the Netball NSW pathway with numerous underage State Teams. She later became Head Netball Coach at the NSW Institute of Sport and also took the reins of the former Swifts feeder team, the Netball NSW Waratahs (now QBE Swifts Academy).
Akle took over at the Swifts just before the 2018 season and went on to lead her young group to a first Premiership in 11 years in 2019.
In August, despite five state relocations and numerous isolation periods, she led the club to a seventh title in the 2021 Super Netball hub in Queensland.
Akle said she was delighted to recommit to the Swifts:
“I am so proud and honoured to be a part of the Swifts and what we’ve achieved over the past few years,” she said. “But as well as that I’m even more excited about where we can go next.
“To witness how the club has rediscovered itself as a powerhouse is a testament to not just our current playing group, but everyone behind the scenes too.
“I was lucky enough to win titles with the club back in the Sydney Swifts days and now every player, coach, staff member and fan buys into a legacy built over 25 years and looks to add to it in their own way.
“While I love the strengths and uniqueness of what each of individual brings to our team, it’s how we continue to harness it into a collective that keeps the team first which will determine our future success.
“It’s a challenge I am up for again and I can’t wait to get started.”
Swifts Executive General Manager Nikki Horton congratulated Akle on her contract extension.
“Briony has been the standout coach in the Super Netball competition over the past number of years and we are delighted to have secured her services,” Horton said.
“She has also been key to bringing the history and heritage of the club to the fore, and when players play for the Swifts they know it’s far more than just a netball club.
“In 2021 Briony led from the front in the most testing of circumstances and inspired our team to a seventh title. When the going got really tough she managed the team impeccably and that mentorship was vital towards us re-signing our starting seven from the 2021 Grand Final.
“We are looking forward to the 2022 season and getting the opportunity to run out at Ken Rosewall Arena as defending Premiers, which is something Briony and the team richly deserve.”
