LINDA ANDREWS is synonymous with netball in the Island and her achievements were rewarded when she was named coach of the year at the prestigious National ONE awards.
Andrews took Team Jets to the national play-offs and was just one game away from winning promotion in her final season as coach of the team before passing the baton on to her mentee, the former England captain Serena Kersten.
And it was made all the more special to receive her award from England coach Jess Thirlby, at the Belfry Hotel in the West Midlands.
“It was quite overwhelming because you read the nominations of the others and everybody’s done remarkable work as well. But to actually get it was special,” said Andrews.
“I think it was recognition for giving Jersey the opportunity to play netball and not just the performance side. Then to receive it from Jess was even more special because I’ve been lucky to be involved in Serena’s development and Jess has been part of that in the England set-up. It was just lovely that she gave it to me because she knew me and she knew the stories.”
The award capped 35 years of coaching the sport in Jersey and Andrews said the key to her longevity was to keep on learning and looking at adopting new methods.
“I think about coaches that have affected me, going on coaching courses and being involved with coaches who have worked in different ways,” she added.
“When you do a drill and the different ways you can do the same drill, then trying to work out what we were good at but being innovative to look at different ideas, so the girls are continually learning and striving and as a coach you’ve also got to keep learning and striving and expanding your own knowledge.”
Andrews admits it has been hard to take a step back from Jets and misses much of the interaction she had with the team but she is keeping her eye in, as well as continually acting as a sounding board for Kersten’s own burgeoning netball career.
“We have our little catch-ups and we have our little chats, so I’m going to keep mentoring here and check in now and again,” she continued. “I think we’ve been lucky enough that we’ve got that relationship that we can have our own views and bounce ideas off each other.”
Meanwhile, some new arrivals to the family mean that Andrews will keep on mentoring new generations of talent for some time to come.
“I’ve got my great niece and she is up at camp today and then I’ve got two identical twin girls, my grandchildren, who are only three months old but we’re already working on them.”
