The Star: July 07, 2022

The Star Thursday July 7 2022
38
SPORT
• By Chris Barclay
STEPHANIE Broomhall retired
as a World Cup winner in 2006,
but the former Black Ferns
international was always keen
to maintain a commitment to
rugby.
A desire to coach her boys
from grassroots level at
Prebbleton and then during
their schooling at St Thomas
of Canterbury College has now
culminated in the 40-year-old
joining the team where she came
to prominence on the wing.
Broomhall is among a newlook
management team for the
Canterbury’s Farah Palmer Cup
campaign, she sustains a female
connection following Whitney
Hansen’s promotion to the
Black Ferns and Melissa Ruscoe
standing down after a five-year
stint.
An assistant focusing on her
specialist position, the outside
backs, Broomhall had her first
camp with a squad tasked with
regaining the provincial crown
from Waikato in Hanmer
Springs last weekend.
Broomhall attended sessions
with the wider training group
earlier this season and although
she never had aspirations to
coach above junior level, head
coach Blair Baxter’s offer was too
enticing to refuse.
“I jumped in there and I was
absolutely blown away, which I
knew I would, by the talent, the
progression that’s been going
on since I last played. I’ll be
learning as well, the players will
be teaching me,” said Broomhall,
who retired when she was just
24.
Scoring a try in the 25-17
World Cup final win over England
in Edmonton, Canada - and
setting up the decisive score for
Amira Marsh proved the ideal
sign off as motherhood took
precedence.
However, the 12-test international
returned to the code when
son Ben was ready for Rippa
rugby as a four-year-old.
“It’s an area (coaching) where
I can give back, that’s all it was
and I really enjoy working to
develop players,” said Broomhall,
who has coached at the Prebbleton
club for 11 years.
This season she was a technical
adviser to the under-17 girls
squad and senior women’s team,
which returned to the field after
a 21-year absence.
Broomhall also assists St
Thomas’ under-15 squad, which
includes Ben.
She also coached another son,
Beau, from aged three to 12.
Husband Andy – the brother of
former All Black loose forward
Sam – looks after their nineyear-old
daughter Fern’s team at
Prebbleton.
Unlike her children, Broomhall
was a late developer as a
rugby player with harriers running,
athletics and then netball
the priority until she was 16.
A stress fracture in her back, a
consequence of jumping up and
down netball courts, led mum to
suggest rugby – a wise move.
“Mum had a way of identifying
what you’d be good at. When
I played rugby with the boys
(in Blenheim) she said they’d
complain to the teachers because
I could catch them,” said Broomhall,
who was selected for the
Canterbury secondary school
team while boarding at Rangi
Ruru Girls’ School.
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Former Black Fern and World Cup winner
committed to coaching at grassroots level
CLUB STALWART: Former Black Fern and new Canterbury Farah Palmer Cup squad assistant coach Stephanie Broomhall
has a long association with the Prebbleton club. (Right) – She discusses tactics and skill development with members of
the St Thomas of Canterbury College under-15s backline.
PHOTO: CHRIS BARCLAY
CHAMPION: Broomhall prepares to fend off an English
opponent in her last appearance for the Black Ferns, the
2006 Rugby World Cup final in Canada. PHOTO: GETTY
“The freedom I had on the rugby
field, just to be physical and
express myself . . . I never looked
back,” she said.
Broomhall joined the
Christchurch Football Club and
made her Canterbury debut
in 1999, the same season the
18-year-old was selected to trial
for the Black Ferns.
She had to wait until the World
XV series in 2003 to play a test,
though earlier that year Broomhall
was a tactical inclusion in
the Aotearoa Maori team for the
‘We were told we
shouldn’t be going because
we’re a racist team . . . they
told us we had to prove
you’re not a team built on
race so we took Stephanie
Mortimer from Canterbury
who is as blonde as you can
get. What a great athlete.
We won again and that
quickly settled the race
issue.’
– Peter Joseph
Hong Kong Sevens.
Coach Peter Joseph justified
the selection in the allblacks.
com profile for Broomhall (nee
Mortimer).
“We were told we shouldn’t
be going because we’re a racist
team . . . they told us we had to
prove you’re not a team built
on race so we took Stephanie
Mortimer from Canterbury who
is as blonde as you can get. What
a great athlete. We won again
and that quickly settled the race
issue.”
Broomhall, who was judged
New Zealand women’s player of
the year in 2004, was effectively
colour blind at the sevens mecca,
a tournament she attended three
times.
“I didn’t know the story at the
time, and I didn’t care. I was in
ODD WOMAN
OUT:
Broomhall was
selected in the
Aotearoa Maori
squad for the
2003 Hong
Kong Sevens
in response to
claims the side
was racist.
my late teens, early 20s and I was
just taking every opportunity I
could to play the sport I love,”
she said.
“Those opportunities with
that team were unreal, things I’ll
never forget.”
A primary school trained
teacher, Broomhall combines her
sporting commitments with a
coveted role as an early intervention
educator at The Champion
Centre, a facility for infants and
young children with significant
disabilities based at Burwood
Hospital.
“It’s a special place. I was just
finishing my teaching at playcentre
and the ad popped up, it was
like a little goldmine in that little
spot,” she said.
And now there is a new learning
experience to embrace at
Rugby Park.
“The support, the quality
of coaching (Canterbury), the
resources on offer since I played
at that level have increased exponentially,”
she said.
“We didn’t get that sort of
coaching until we were at Black
Ferns level. It’s really exciting.”
Canterbury’s Farah
Palmer Cup schedule:
Sat, July 16 v Wellington,
Porirua Park
Sat, July 23 v Auckland,
Rugby Park, Christchurch
Sat, July 30 Bye
Sat, August 6 v Counties
Manukau, Navigation
Homes Stadium, Pukekohe
Sat, August 13 v Waikato,
Orangetheory Stadium
Sat, August 20 v
Manawatu, Orangetheory
Stadium
Sat, August 27 v Bay of
Plenty, Tauranga Domain
Fri, September 2-Sun
September 4: Premiership
and Championship semifinals
TBC
Fri, September 9-Sun,
September 11: Premiership
and Championship finals
TBC