Steve Jurkovich

If you look at some of the challenges that have been experienced over recent years, there are threads that link them.

But ultimately, this is a business.

And I think when I reflect on the roles that I've had on both sides of the board table, I think that blend of business skills and sport leadership skills are going to be incredibly important stepping into this role on the 12th of August.

Well, as someone that loves sport and has followed netball since my childhood, I just found it incredibly sad.

It was obvious that it was a really difficult period for everyone involved.

And I think if you fast forward a few months to when the CEO role was advertised, I was really keen to look at what skills they were seeking from a new chief executive.

And

Having read the details that they put into market and having done some due diligence talking to a number of people, I did feel really compelled to put my hand up and see how I can be a part of making a difference into the future.

I've been asked that question a lot throughout my career in terms of have I always wanted to do this role or that role.

I've never had particular roles that I've been striving towards.

I've always just been focused on doing a good job where I am and when an opportunity presents and if I feel like it aligns with my skills and experiences, putting my head into the mix.

And that was certainly what happened.

With the Netball New Zealand Chief Executive role, I've been with Active for five years this month.

We've done some amazing things in this organisation.

And when I look at what's required at Netball New Zealand into the future, I think my skills and experiences are going to be really helpful to ensure that we're able to ensure the sport and the organisation reaches its full potential into the future.

I think there's a different purpose and there's also different commercial drivers.

So Active is all about ensuring that young people missing out on the benefits of sport are involved in sport.

If I look at Netball New Zealand, it's the whole remit of sport.

So ensuring that we've got a really thriving grassroots game at the high-performance end, that we've got our silver ferns and our elite competition doing incredible things

Obviously there's huge commercial pressures in sport in general at the moment and that'll be a big focus of mine coming into the role.