Welsh Netball Announces Sara Hale as Head of Elite

Welsh Netball is pleased to share the news that Wales head coach, Sara Hale, will take on the new role of Head of Elite at the National Governing Body. The new strategic leadership role will see Hale lead on all aspects of elite performance at Welsh Netball including the Wales senior and age group programmes, performance pathway and Celtic Dragons. Hale will continue to work as the Welsh senior squad head coach and will work closely with the new Celtic Dragons head coach once that recruitment process is concluded. 

In her new role, Hale will seek to drive systemic change in Welsh elite performance netball, with success at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and 2023 Netball World Cup as key near-term targets. She will then also seek to develop a framework for long-term success across all of Welsh Netball’s elite performance teams and programmes – seeking to provide Wales with an oversupply of homegrown elite netball talent both on and off court. Furthermore, Hale will lead on the development of mutually beneficial partnerships with other high-performance sport stakeholders and drive the agenda of Welsh Netball’s newly restructured Performance Development Group.  

Welsh Netball CEO Sarah Jones said: “We have now completed a restructuring process for our performance staff team and we’re pleased to announce that Sara will be joining us as our new Head of Elite later in the year.  

“This is an important new senior role for the National Governing Body and Sara will be instrumental in the implementation of Welsh Netball’s strategy for elite performance across all of our high-performance squads, programmes and pathways. 

“She will be driving structural changes in how we manage and deliver our elite performance netball programmes, with the aim of sustained, long-term success. She will also have the support of our new Performance Development Group which will provide analysis, feedback and scrutiny for our high-performance programmes and squads.” 

Talking about her new role at Welsh Netball, Hale said: “I’m really looking forward to joining Welsh Netball on a full-time basis as Head of Elite. Being trusted to lead the performance strategy in Wales is an honour, and I believe that my knowledge of the sport and my experience in business will allow me to contribute positively to both Welsh Netball and Celtic Dragons’ strategic direction.” 

Hale will begin her new role from September 2021 and we look forward to bringing all you all the latest developments from our elite performance staff team in due course.