The Star: March 16, 2023

The Star Thursday March 16 2023
24
SPORT
Latest Canterbury news at starnews.co.nz
Court side icon’s name etched
among the greats
Two years ago Joyce Walsh’s heart stopped beating for 33 minutes and she spent 66
days in hospital then had to learn to walk again. Jaime Cunningham talks to the netball
stalwart who has been recognised with a Netball New Zealand service award
JOYCE WALSH’S name now
sits alongside the likes of Dame
Noeline Taurua, Laura Langman
and Adine Wilson.
But unlike some who appear
on the list of Netball New Zealand
service award recipients,
she never wore a Silver Ferns
uniform or coached the national
side.
The Cantabrian has instead
contributed 50 years to the sport
in other ways. She has played
and coached, umpired and
coached umpires – and been a
national bench official, scoring
games and keeping time.
Joyce, 80, says her first involvement
with netball, outside of
playing, started in about 1971,
when she was living in Palmerston
North with her young
family.
“I started coaching after our
son had started primary school.
We knew very little people in
the area and I saw the school’s
newsletter asking for a netball
coach,” she said.
The team Joyce took over won
their end-of-season tournament
– and she still remembers being
asked how she coached the players
so well.
However, her coaching stint
didn’t last long as she considered
umpiring to be “far more important.”
Joyce gained her New Zealand
umpiring badge in 1980 and
moved back to Christchurch that
same year. She lived at the Burnham
Military Camp while her
husband was in the army, and
began working at Christchurch
Netball Centre.
“I used to spend five out of
seven days at Hagley Park. If it
wasn’t a meeting, it was umpiring.
If it wasn’t that it was something
else,” she said.
In 1992, she gave up umpiring
due to an injury but continued to
be involved with netball, marking
theory papers and coaching
junior umpires.
Joyce then began scoring and
timekeeping at Christchurch
Netball Centre, which she “quite
enjoyed.”
She eventually became a national
bench official in 2004 and
was involved in national tournaments
across the country.
“In those days, we didn’t have
remote controls to buzz (for the
end of a quarter), you had to
chase the umpires,” she said.
Her highlight as a bench
official was
when Auckland
hosted the 2007
Netball World
Cup. Joyce said
she couldn’t
pass up the opportunity
to be
Megan
involved.
“For 10 days,
we were at the
McLay
court at 8am and didn’t finish
up until 9.30pm. Unfortunately,
New Zealand couldn’t beat Australia
in the final (losing 38-42),
but that was my highlight of my
benching,” she said.
After 16 years’ volunteering at
national and age-group tournaments,
Joyce’s netball ambitions
had to be put on hold in 2020
when her heart abruptly stopped.
“I had to get taught to walk
again. I wanted to go back to netball
but my brain couldn’t work
fast enough,” she said.
“I haven’t been back to netball
in two years now, and I miss it
so much. Apart from that, I’m
living my life,” Joyce said.
But the sport came back into
her life last month, when a
surprise call from her daughter
revealed Joyce she had been
acknowledged in Netball New
Zealand’s 2023 service awards.
“I had a tear or two when I
found out, and it took a day or
so to sink in. To me, it’s the real
pinnacle of what I’ve done for
all those years,” she said. “All in
all, netball has been my life for a
long time.”
Megan McLay, a former
manager at Christchurch Netball
Centre, said Joyce has given a lot
to netball in Canterbury.
“She has given
a huge portion
of her life and her
passion to netball.
The netball community
as a whole has
benefitted greatly from
her dedication and we
remain grateful for her
involvement in our
sport,” McLay said.
Joyce has been a
delight to work
alongside and
her years as an
umpire coach
had helped bring
through some
quality umpires at
the centre, McLay
said.
“She has always been prepared
to fill in for others and to take
on more than her share of bench
duties, to assist in the office or to
go out on the courts to support
umpires if they are struggling
with on-court play or sideline
behaviour,” McLay said.
Joyce will be presented
with her service award at the
Christchurch Netball Centre
annual meeting on Monday.
2023 NNZ service
awards:
•Kate Agnew – NNZ
(Netball South Canterbury
Endorsed).
•Julie Bennett - Auckland
Netball Centre.
•Barbara Bialy - Netball
Hutt Valley.
•Mary-Rose Cullen-
Invercargill Netball Centre.
•Leana de Bruin - NNZ
(Rotorua Netball
Centre Endorsed).
•Gareth Fowler - NNZ
(Netball Central Zone
Endorsed).
•Debbie Fuller - NNZ
(Tauranga Netball
Centre Endorsed).
•Laura Langman - NNZ
(Te Awamutu Netball
Centre Endorsed).
•Leah Lazarus - Netball
North Harbour.
•Kirsten Lloyd - Netball
Wellington Centre.
STALWART: Joyce
Walsh has given
more than 50 years
of service to netball
since she started
coaching in
1971.
•Murray Lockwood -
Netball Northern Zone
(Papakura Netball
Centre Endorsed).
•Maree McMillan -
Invercargill Netball Centre.
•Nicki Paterson - Dunedin
Netball Centre.
•Kristie Simpson -
NNZ (Netball South
Zone Endorsed).
•Noeline Taurua - NNZ
(Tauranga Netball
Centre Endorsed).
•Joyce Walsh - Christchurch
Netball Centre.
•Adine Wilson - Auckland
Netball Centre.
•Lyn Wilson - Dunedin
Netball Centre.
CANTERBURY
BROUGHT YOU BY
SPORTS CORNER
WITH NEW ZEALAND WOMEN’S CRICKETER
FRANKIE MACKAY SATURDAY 7– 8AM