NSW's Keelan appointed NA Pathway Head Coach

She will be responsible for leading the technical delivery of Netball Australia’s pathway strategy and driving the development of Australian netball talent to ensure sustained success.  

Keelan joins Netball Australia having held coaching roles with the NSW Swifts in Suncorp Super Netball and previous national league teams, Australian 21U World Youth Cup / Australian Institute of Sport, the NSW Institute of Sport and Netball NSW programs. 

WIth the Swifts she was part of coaching teams which contested three Grand Finals, winning a Premiership with the Club in 2019.

Netball Australia Executive General Manager of Performance Stacey West congratulated Keelan on her appointment and said her extensive experience across all levels of the pathway and passion for athlete progression made her the perfect fit.  

“The success that Anita has been able to share in, as a coach, and the quality of the programs she has worked in say a great deal about her,” she said.  

“Anita will lead our high-performance system in establishing new standards within our pathway that optimises the progression of our talent on their journey towards the Diamonds.” 

The newly created role will support a nationally aligned and integrated high-performance pathway system that embraces all stakeholders. These programs are critical to the future success of the Diamonds, and even more so after two years of COVID-19 disruption to the pathway. 

Working closely with Origin Diamonds Head Coach, Stacey Marinkovich, and Head of Pathway, Kristen Barnes, Keelan will lead the delivery of national pathway programs, including the 17/U, 19/U, 21/U and the Australian Development squad.  

Keelan said she was looking forward to driving the Netball Australia pathway programs forward.  

“This is an exciting new role for Netball Australia and I'm very honoured to be joining the team in developing the next generation of Diamonds. I can’t wait to get started.” 

Keelan begins as Pathway Head Coach this week.