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Anne Stillwell is a familiar face in the town of Kaikohe, in the Bay of Islands. She’s easily recognised by the locals because she coaches netball, swimming and touch rugby – which means she coaches just about half of the town!

Anne was the very deserving winner of this year’s Watties General Volunteer Coach of the Year Award. Shortly after the awards we had a chat with Anne about how she got involved in coaching, the work she has been doing for sport in Kaikohe, and what it was like winning the award.

Winning the big one

“I am overwhelmed by it all, to be honest. I am still walking on cloud nine. It’s also been good for our town. The award night was fantastic – it was awesome and grand. It was great to see coaches of different ages. As part of the evening’s entertainment, there was a quiz and the young coaches really showed us how much they loved their sport, and what they knew. It was a really friendly occasion.”

A dedicated coach

It’s not every coach that works across three different sporting codes. In the winter, Anne’s life is all about netball. Coaching three teams, the Wanderers Senior A team (Premier League), the Northland College A team, who play in the same league, and the Kaikohe East primary school team. “It gets pretty competitive and entertaining when the two premier league teams play each other,” exclaims Anne.

Anne’s commitment to netball doesn’t stop there, she’s also club president at the Wanderers, and manages to find some spare time to coach netball umpires with the Bay of Islands Netball Association.

During summer, Anne coaches swimming at the Kaikohe Swimming Club, where two of her students have made it through to the national squad. “When we were kids, we didn’t used to swim in a swimming pool, we swam in the creek! And watching TV wasn’t an option. Getting the kids outside playing is so much better for them,” Anne says. Last, but not least, Anne’s summer commitment to coaching continues with her work coaching touch rugby at the year 5-6 level.