The NSW Swifts would like to acknowledge and congratulate the Club’s Foundation Coach Julie Fitzgerald AM who will coach her 400th National League game this weekend.
An ever-present figure in each edition of the National League which started in 1997 (currently Suncorp Super Netball), Fitzgerald led the Swifts to five Premierships in her time at the helm.
Across the Commonwealth Bank Trophy era (1997-2007) she coached the then Sydney Swifts to titles in 2001, 2004, 2006 and 2007.
When the Club rebranded as the NSW Swifts in 2008 for the dawn of the trans-Tasman ANZ Championship era (2008-2016), Julie won an unprecedented three-peat when the Swifts claimed another title.
After a coaching spell with the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic in New Zealand, Julie returned to Sydney to coach the newly-formed Giants after the ANZ Championship was replaced by Super Netball in 2017.
She has since led the Giants to two Grand Finals, including the 2021 all-NSW decider which was won by the Swifts.
Julie Fitzgerald coaching the Swifts in 2007. Picture: Getty Images.Current Swifts head coach Briony Akle, who played under Fitzgerald in the 2001 and 2004 Premiership teams before mentoring the Club to title successes in 2019 and 2021, paid tribute her:
“She may now be coaching our cross-town rivals, but Julie will always hold a special place in Swifts history and the Club wouldn’t be where it is today without her.
“She will always be the Swifts Foundation Coach and the mentor who led them to five of the seven Championship Flags that the Club has claimed to this point.
“To reach 400 games is a milestone that takes a huge amount of skill, resilience and success. Everyone who has played a role in her journey to this point should be exceptionally proud in what she’s achieved.
“Julie is a legend of not just netball, but Australian sport as a whole.”
