Western Netball have appointed an exciting duo to coach its team to compete in the 2009 Lois Muir Challenge.

The head coach announced is Nicole Dryden who successfully guided Western 2 to win the Perry Foundation NPC Division Two Championships at Rotorua in October.

Nicole who coached Waikato in national competitions from 2002 to 2006 whilst employed as High Performance Manager for the successful province moved to Wanganui in 2007.  Already her experience has been an asset to the region in coaching, advising, mentoring and as a Western Board Member.

Nicole is excited about this new challenge "This opportunity to identify and showcase the netball talent from the region" she said "We will put a prerformance driven programme in place to give the opportunity to those selected to enjoy success and step up to the next level.

The assistant coach is the highly qualified and experienced Taranaki coach Josie Cleaver who after a distinguished playing career has coached at New Plymouth Girls High for nearly 30 years, coaching the schools senior team to many high achievements at local, regional and national levels, in addition Josie has coached NPOB to premier champions as well as Taranaki representative teams.

Joise is thrilled to be named assistant coach "I am ready to take the next step and looking forward to working with Nicole" she said.

The Lois Muir Challenge like the ANZ Championship started this year as a tier below the professional competition and a crucial pathway for New Zealand players to have the opportunity to move up to the next level.

Board Chair Peter Shannon said the region is excited at the prospect of entering a team in this competition for the first time which runs over a four week period during April.