Fever Hit the Ground Running Ahead of Season 2015
West Coast Fever Head Coach, Stacey Rosman challenged her 2015 playing group to come back and start pre-season training in peak condition, and they’ve certainly delivered.
Last Monday marked day one of the team’s pre-season campaign and Rosman expressed optimism at the team’s condition.
“Collectively as a group the girls have started the pre-season in better condition than ever before,” she said.
Rosman credits this to detailed planning and working closely with the likes of Michelle Wilkins (Head coach WAIS Netball) at the Western Australian Institute of Sport.
“WAIS is making sure the players are developing, growing and going on to make that Australian standard, and Fever is part of the Netball Australia pathway.
“It’s been a collaborative approach and certainly working with Michelle Wilkins at WAIS has been paramount because together we can work out a 12-month plan for the athletes.
“We put the challenge to the girls, giving them benchmarks to reach, and then worked closely with WAIS who have done a fantastic job supporting the Fever program and taking the girls through a pre pre-season,” Rosman said.
Having a selection of players in an Australian Diamonds or Centre of Excellence environment during the ANZ Championship off-season has also been a positive for Fever. WAIS scholarship holders Caitlin Bassett and Natalie Medhurst have been full-steam-ahead with the Diamonds this year, only flying back into Perth from a national camp the day before Fever’s pre-season commenced.
Similarly, WAIS trio Ashleigh Brazill, Kaylia Stanton and Courtney Bruce all went through Netball Australia’s inaugural Centre of Excellence program in 2014, which culminated in a two-week tour of South Africa during October.
In many ways, elite netballers no longer have an off-season.
“It’s club-free time but it’s also personal development time, to make sure they come back in the right condition, ensuring they can start with intensity,” said Rosman.
“We’ve got a huge focus on the way in which we train. You can’t train at intensity, and you certainly can’t have the volume of training at intensity if you don’t turn up in the right condition, so that’s exciting to have.”
“Even in off-season, you never stop being an athlete,” said Rosman, who was also the inaugural Captain of the club.
For the players who aren’t WAIS athletes, including new recruits April Letton and Erena Mikaere, Fever’s Strength and Conditioning Coaches Liam Warwick and Jordan Stares provided programs that they girls could choose to follow.
“These girls were given programs that would ensure they could withstand the training volume they’d be hit with once pre-season started. They made the choice to follow the programs and have arrived in the condition we expected they would,” said Rosman.
Just as importantly, Mikaere and Letton seem to have had no trouble fitting in with the rest of the playing group.
“For us we’ve certainly brought in skilled and talented players, but first and foremost Monday was a true reflection of the fact they’re great people for the club and the team,” said Rosman.
“Their personalities have meant they’ve built a rapport straight up and that just shows that we’ve recruited well.
“The girls we’ve brought into the program are definitely team players and that was a strategic approach when we were recruiting – we needed team players for us to be able perform out on court.”
Fever HQ is abuzz with excitement, and at the core of that is Rosman who is leading the group through a cultural shift.
“It’s about doing the right things at the right time for the right reasons,” said Rosman on her coaching philosophies.
“I want them to hold me accountable as much as I hold them accountable – this is a united approach and we’re there to work together.”
West Coast Fever will embark on an intense pre-season camp in Karratha before taking a short break over Christmas and New Year.
2015 West Coast Fever memberships are now on sale. Click here for more details.
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