The Star: May 24, 2018

The Star Latest Christchurch news at www.star.kiwi
Thursday May 24 2018 23
Our People
Marianne Delaney-Hoshek
Tactix coach provides the motivation
After starting their ANZ
Premiership with as
many wins as the entire
2017 campaign, the
Mainland Tactix seem
to be on the rebound.
Sports reporter Gordon
Findlater catches
up with head coach
Marianne Delaney-
Hoshek to find out a
little more about the
brains behind our
netball team
Obviously you’ve been
involved in netball for a long
time now. Can you remember
your introduction to the sport?
It was in standard four, so that
would be year 6, at Avondale
Primary School. They had
actually said you couldn’t be in
the A team unless you’ve played
netball before, so I lied and said I
had because I wanted to be in the
A team.
And you took a liking to
netball from there?
I did but it was actually
basketball first for me because
mum was a rep basketball player
. . . I did rep basketball right up
until I was 16 so I did dual and
then I made the national league
for netball which was called the
Bendon League when I was still
at school so I dropped basketball
at that point because netball was
getting pretty serious.
Did you follow the
Canterbury Rams in those
days?
I used to go all the time when
I was younger. Mum would take
us to games in the 80s. I used to
think it would be pretty awesome
to be one of the kids who got
to go on the court to wipe up
the sweat with the towels. I just
idolised the guys that played
for the Rams then, they were
awesome.
So basketball was a big deal at
home?
Our family is more of a rugby
family to be honest. Obviously,
mum was basketball but dad
is rugby so that was quite
dominant in our family.
Does the family have club
allegiances?
We’re very much a Linwood
family. It was clubrooms on a
Saturday night . . . fizzy drink
and chips . . . Dad has always
been on the committee and my
boys play for Linwood now. My
sister Megan is also the junior
club captain at Linwood.
Did you ever play rugby?
I did have a season, yes.
With Linwood?
No, with Burnside.
Was that frowned upon?
Dad wasn’t that supportive of
me playing rugby to be honest
. . . he has very traditional views
about rugby. I went to Burnside
because I had friends who were
coaching the team. I played
FAMILY RIVALS: Marianne Delaney-Hoshek at home with her sons Zac, 9 (left), Hurricanes
fan, and Sam, 7, Crusaders fan.
PHOTO: MARTIN HUNTER
touch with them and they asked
if I could play. That Burnside
team was from a bunch of girls
who played other sports.
What rules the roost at home
now?
There’s a lot of rugby that gets
watched. I don’t think my husband
enjoys watching netball but
he fakes quite well.
I understand there’s a split
in allegiances when it comes to
Super Rugby teams at home.
What can you tell me about
that?
My kids were born in Wellington.
We lived in Wellington
for 10 years and because my
husband’s a really big Hurricanes
supporter our oldest son
jumped on that bandwagon as
well, particularly because they’ve
been doing quite well in the last
couple of years. I think he’s just a
bandwagon jumper basically
. . . but, our youngest son is a
Crusaders fan through and
through. He loves going around
the house telling everyone about
it.
What about your brother,
who is now part of the Highlanders
coaching staff. Are you
gutted his allegiances have gone
south?
I was gutted actually because
I liked having him here . . . he’s
been overseas for a long time so
it’s been nice having him back.
Would you describe it as a
brother/sister relationship or a
coach and coach one?
Probably more coach to coach
a lot of the time, actually. We’ve
GIFTED: Delaney-Hoshek
rates Tactix defender
Temalisi Fakahokotau as one
of the most talented athletes
she has worked with.
been banned from talking about
coaching at family events.
Obviously coaching runs in
the family, when did it get serious
for you?
I stopped playing when I was
about 31 which is quite young.
From there I just really got into
coaching. I had been doing it
from when I was 15 but that’s
when I got serious. I did the
under-21 rep squad the next year
and then I was away.
You said you were coaching
at 15?
Yes, I coached the junior
basketball team when I was at
Marian College.
They wouldn’t have been
much younger than you.
No, they were year 9 and I was
year 11.
Did you have in your mind at
that stage, coaching was something
you could end up doing
professionally?
Yes, I don’t know. I became a
PE teacher and I always wanted
to be a PE teacher. I must admit
that when I was playing I loved
playing so much that I never
imagined being a coach, if that
makes sense . . . it was when I
actually stopped playing that I
realised I loved coaching.
Where was your first teaching
gig?
Lincoln High School. I did a
couple of years there, then I did
a bit of relief before I went off
to London. I was teaching and
coaching over there and then
when I came back and moved
to Wellington I was teaching at
Queen Margaret College and
coaching the senior A netball
team . . . the school team did really
well. We were in the bottom
of B grade and in a couple of
years we ended up getting up to
fifth in A grade . . . then I got the
assistant coach role at the Central
Pulse and the same year got
the assistant role with the New
Zealand secondary school team.
Tell me about your Pulse
days.
It was awesome working with
Robyn Broughton because she
is so experienced. I did a lot of
the video analysis work with the
team.
She was obviously a big influence.
Do you have any other
mentors who have helped you
over the years?
A big one for me has been
Fergie McCormick who recently
passed away. He would phone me
after most of my games and was
a good friend of dad’s.
You then moved back to
Christchurch. Tell me about
that.
I came down and I went for
the assistant coach role. It’s weird
how the timing worked out.
How would you describe
those couple of years there
when things weren’t going great
with just one or two win seasons.
Were there tough times?
There were tough times. It was
quite amazing one of the first
things I noticed is that when
you’re the bottom team you don’t
get the umpires’ calls, the 50/50
calls you might otherwise get.
That was my first shock after
coming from the Pulse where
it was pretty fair. That was a big
surprise for me.
During your time as assistant
with Sue Hawkins did you guys
feel the team had the potential
to do better?
We did. Remember we had
players like Mwayi Kumwenda
and Bailey Mes. It was quite
a good team and we actually
challenged quite hard at the
beginning of the season but then
we lost all of our games from
there. You can’t knock the girls
and their personality, and the
culture, in that respect.
Tell me about the day Sue
went and you found out you
were taking over as head coach.
It was obviously a big shock
and I didn’t eat much that week.
It happened on a Monday and I
had to take my first session on
the Wednesday, so I had one day
to nail it out and think, ‘right
what are the priorities’ and we
just went from there. It was a
very full on and interesting time.
You must be happy how this
season started?
I think we’ve shown some real
heart so far and we wanted to really
play netball for the fans and
for the younger girls growing up
here, to show them what good
netball looks like . . . it hasn’t
always been so good, so that’s a
huge motivator for us.
How do we get Canterbury
netball back to the top?
I actually think we’re there or
there about. Even in our first loss
we just had one bad quarter.
Is there anyone you can single
out as the best player you’ve
seen?
In terms of as athletes I’d
say Temalisi Fakahokotau and
Mwayi Kumwenda. Te Huinga
Reo Selby-Rickit is another
player in terms of being a smart
student of the game and team
person.