He’s more than just a netball coach

POLOKWANE – Wiehahn van Staden (25) is a netball coach who not only cares about winning, but about the well-being of the players.

Wiehahn, who is also an action netball player, coaches the u/15 netball team at Michell House.

“I heard the team did not win any matches last year, but that changed when I started coaching them as they have not lost a single match this year,” says Wiehahn.

“We won our league. We are in the B-league due to the size of the school, but we have played against Pietersburg Hoërskool and Capricorn High School who are in the A-league. We lost against PHS, but won against Capricorn.”

The team came fifth during the Limpopo championships recently.

“I love netball and I also have quite some knowledge of other sport. When coaching the team, I use aspects of all the sport I know.”

Wiehahn says his winning formula is to be emotionally involved in the team.

“When there is something wrong in the team, we do not play, but sit and talk about it. Teaching a team to play a sport is more than teaching them skills. You have to focus on each individual and develop that individual. If she cannot jump, don’t try to teach her to jump, rather focus on a technique that she can do and develop that,” he says.

Khanyisa Nukeri, one of the players in Wiehahn’s team says he is a good coach and a fun person to work with.

“But he can be serious about the team. He is very skilled and has helped us a lot,” she says.

Another team member, Nadine Scholtz, agrees with Khanyisa. “He did not only help us with netball, his advice is also helpful.”