Steel players embark on Central Otago road trip

April 3, 2025

Budding netballers throughout Central Otago will benefit from expert tuition this week.

The Ascot Park Hotel Southern Steel team is embarking on its Steel Roadie and will host coaching sessions in Queenstown, Wanaka, Cromwell and Alexandra.

Steel defender Abby Lawson was excited to hit the road.

“It’s a chance to give back to the grassroots game where all of our sporting careers started,” she said.

“There’s something really special about all of the community engagements we do throughout the season. As a player, you feed of the energy of the next generation coming through and it really does ‘fill your cup’ as they say.

“And from a team perspective, it’s a great opportunity to spend more time together away from the court and continue building those strong bonds which is so important as the season approaches.”

Netball South relationship manager community lead Rita Coe said the Steel’s presence in Central Otago always proved popular.

“The response has been fantastic. We now have three of our four sessions maxed out and it will be such a neat experience for all of the participants to learn from our Steel players,” she said.

“At this stage, we still have some space for the training in Alexandra on Sunday afternoon for those eager to get involved.”

Steel assistant coach Liana Leota will share her extensive knowledge of the game with a CCA2 Coaching Workshop in Wanaka, while Netball South performance umpire lead Colleen Bond will run workshops for both senior and junior officials.

The Steel will be in Queenstown at the Wakatipu Netball Centre on Friday afternoon and Wanaka on Saturday morning with Netball Upper Clutha.

Players will attend Alexandra Primary School’s 7-aside tournament on Saturday afternoon. On Sunday, they will host sessions for the Central Otago Netball Centre in both Cromwell and Alexandra.