In a lengthy Facebook post, Parata said Taurua\u2019s standing-down sent a \u201cchilling message to every coach in Aotearoa New Zealand\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe sudden stand-down of Dame Noeline Taurua and her coaching staff has left many of us across the coaching community stunned and questioning how it has come to this,\u201d Parata wrote.<\/p>\n
She said it appeared that the coaching profession\u2019s voice had been sidelined and even the most successful, world-class coaches were now dispensable.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe very essence of coaching \u2013 relationships, trust and lived experience \u2013 no longer seems to hold weight with those making the decisions.\u201d<\/p>\n
Parata said she made the difficult decision to resign as a national selector to show her support for Taurua and said her treatment was deeply concerning for coaches in New Zealand, questioning \u201cwho would step into a role now knowing that one complaint, one misinterpretation or one moment taken out of context could end their career?\u201d<\/p>\n
The issues trace back to a training camp in January. Afterwards, two players approached the New Zealand Netball Players Association on behalf of a larger group of up to seven players, raising concerns about Taurua\u2019s leadership and communication style.<\/p>\n
The players alleged the environment had become \u201cpsychologically unsafe\u201d, describing a culture in which some felt fearful of raising issues directly with the head coach.<\/p>\n
An independent review later highlighted \u201csignificant issues\u201d within the Silver Ferns environment.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe keep hearing words like \u2018safety\u2019 and \u2018wellbeing\u2019 but with no transparency, those words ring hollow,\u201d Parata wrote. \u201cRight now, it feels to some in the coaching community that coaching in this country is risky \u2013 personally, professionally and financially.\u201d<\/p>\n
Parata said Taurua had elevated countless players and staff while she was Silver Ferns coach, and yet \u201ceven she wasn\u2019t protected\u201d.<\/p>\n
Parata and Taurua first met while playing for the imposing Wellington club side, PIC, through the 1990s.<\/p>\n
Parata later went on to coach Scotland for six years before moving back to New Zealand, where she became coach of the Central Pulse in the ANZ Premiership.<\/p>\n
She had just one season with the Pulse in 2021 before she was replaced by Yvette McCausland-Durie.<\/p>\n
Parata has questioned whether politics is at play.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf someone like Dame Noeline can be stood down like this, what message does that send to every coach in our system? That excellence and integrity are no longer enough. That politics now trumps performance.<\/p>\n
\u201cElite sport is emotional, high-stakes, high-pressure and human. But when governance bodies start weaponising player emotions or allowing isolated complaints to dictate coaching futures without proper process, that\u2019s not protecting anyone. That\u2019s eroding trust.<\/p>\n
\u201cHave Netball NZ and the Players\u2019 Association used a minority of player concerns under the banner of \u201csafety\u201d to justify removing one of the most visionary women leaders in sport?\u201d<\/p>\n
Bad practice<\/p>\n
Parata has also criticised the way the the National Selection Panel (NSP) functioned after Taurua was stood down.<\/p>\n
The NSP was made up of convenor of selectors Adrianne Hayes, Gail Parata and Leigh Gibbs. It also includes the Silver Ferns head coach \u2013 who until recently was Taurua.<\/p>\n
Parata said two of the other selectors were overseas at the time of Taurua\u2019s suspension, leaving her as the only one on the ground in New Zealand.<\/p>\n
\u201cUnder the selection policy, selection requires a convenor of selectors, the head coach plus two other selectors. Instead, with my resignation and the stand-down of Dame Noeline, the policy was quickly changed to suit the current situation \u2013 reducing the panel from four to three selectors, with the board and Players\u2019 Association sign-off sought afterwards, more or less a rubber stamp after the fact.\u201d<\/p>\n
While it was presented as a practical solution due to the situation, Parata said it set a concerning precedent.<\/p>\n
\u201cChanging policy to fit circumstances rather than upholding consistent, transparent standards is not good practice.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWithout the national selectors on the ground … who ensured the athletes were evaluated with the same depth, objectivity and care? Those currently in place had only been involved for a few weeks and that raises serious questions about how selection decisions were made and on what foundation.\u201d<\/p>\n
RNZ has approached Netball New Zealand for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In a lengthy Facebook post, Parata said Taurua\u2019s standing-down sent a \u201cchilling message to every coach in Aotearoa…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":76494,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[74,1320,49722,2947,33736,10541,2740,59682,3556,16762,117,111,43,139,16759,69,59683,14904,18994,17363,19098,19996,59681,7457,12066,16760,6277,80],"class_list":["post-76493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-zealand","tag-after","tag-coach","tag-coaching","tag-dame","tag-fern","tag-ferns","tag-former","tag-gail","tag-national","tag-netball","tag-new","tag-new-zealand","tag-news","tag-newzealand","tag-noeline","tag-nz","tag-parata","tag-questioned","tag-resigned","tag-resigns","tag-safe","tag-saga","tag-selector","tag-silver","tag-suspension","tag-tauruas","tag-wake","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=76493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/76493\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/76494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=76493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=76493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=76493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}