New Pulse assistant coach Kim Howard
Coming full circle, a well-travelled Kim Howard will return to her roots following her appointment as Te Wānanga o Raukawa Pulse assistant coach for the 2024 ANZ Premiership netball season.
Born and raised in Porirua, the former Kapi Mana netball representative will join head coach Anna Andrews-Tasola, both new to their respective roles, on the sidelines for the upcoming season.
Howard has covered plenty of netball ground since her formative years, and after a supposed two-year stint in Australia stretched into 11 years, a return to New Zealand in 2020 has put her firmly back on the coaching pathway in this country.
``Before I went to Australia, I was already in the (Netball NZ) coaching pathway and when I went to Australia, I had to sacrifice that,’’ she said. ``But I always had some aspirations of wanting to get to a high level of coaching in netball.
``Going to Australia for 11 years certainly took me out of the pathway, and at the time, I remember thinking that probably hadn’t helped me but in hindsight being over there and being able to learn a little bit about a different style and a different brand, has added to my coaching CV skillset, I believe.
``Coming back I still had the same desire to want to be in that high performance environment again. That desire never really left me.’’
Howard returned to New Zealand to take on the position of Director of Netball at Hamilton Girls High School with almost instant success when the school won the NZ Secondary Schools Champs for the first time in 2022.
When living on the Sunshine Coast, Howard coached, was the Game Development Officer and Coach Lead for the Caloundra Association while also setting up a successful coaching business, Motivationz Netball Sunshine Coast, a skill development programme. She also actively worked with New Zealand players in Australia, forming a talent identification pathway for them within the New Zealand system.
At the elite level, she partnered with coach Dame Noeline Taurua as her manager of the successful Sunshine Coast Lightning team in the Australia Super League.
Prior to moving to Australia, Howard was a successful age-group coach and Game Development Officer for the then Eastern Netball Region and was the driver behind the first school netball academy in Hawke’s Bay.
``It has been a dream of mine to get to this level and this (upcoming) season as an assistant coach is an opportunity to learn more and add to my skillset,’’ she said.
Howard will start with the Pulse in January, her Hamilton Girls High School role being reduced to working remotely on a part-time basis for the duration of the season, during which time she will also go back into the school for a couple of days every fortnight.
``It feels exactly like coming full circle,’’ she said of her Pulse appointment. ``I always knew that coming home was what I was going to do at some point in time and I’m really excited about it.
``I’ve always been someone that thinks outside the square and always looking for that point of difference and what sets teams apart and I’m hoping that’s where I can add some value, potentially.
``I can’t wait to get down there and get started. Everything has worked in my favour and I’m super grateful to the Pulse and the school for making this happen.’’
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