Mike's Minute: Gail Parata - my hero of the week

Most stories need a hero, and Gail Parata might fit the role in this netball mess. 

Or is it now a scandal? 

Gail Parata has resigned as a national netball selector and in doing so has gone out guns blazing and, because of that, has given the rest of us a decent insight into what a shambles the Dame Noeline Taurua story really is. 

This thing is now weeks old since she got stood down. 

The story and the incidents go back, apparently, to a camp in summer. 

Taurua's treatment, writes Parata on social media, sends a chilling message to every coach in the country. 

The coaching profession's voice has been sidelined. Even the most successful, world class coaches are now dispensable. 

The very essence of coaching, relationships, trust and lived experience no longer seems to hold weight with those making decisions. 

She's on a roll at this point, God bless her. Who, she asks, would step into a role now knowing that one complaint, one misinterpretation or one moment taken out of context could end your career? 

The value of this, quite apart from the fact it’s the first time as far as I know we have heard from a so called third party, is that the so-called "third party" seems to infer what we all suspect. 

This thing got blown out of all proportion. This thing, whatever it is, seems to involve some sort of upset, moaning, whining, fragile, ego-related overreaction to an event at the camp. 

In other words, some players got huffy over Noeline's approach. 

So the big question for Netball NZ is just how many casualties do you want? You have star players publicly calling you out and wanting their coach back, you’ve got lawyers in six minute blocks, and now a selector who clearly feels someone has to break the silence and flush a few truths out. 

The damage is to Noeline, to the sport, to the selection panel and to coaches generally because the questions raised by Parata are all excellent and, like all the other questions in this stinking mess, require some answers.   

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