HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Norma Margaret Plummer AM (born 24 November 1944) is a former Australian national player who also served as
netball Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...
coach for both Australia and
South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
. She was coach of
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
from 2003 to 2011, ending her coaching career with the Diamonds on 67 victories from 89 Tests — a success rate of 75 per cent. She was replaced as coach of Australia by Lisa Alexander. She was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for her services to the sport. In November 2022 it was announced she would be returning to South Africa to coach the South Africa national netball side the Spar Proteas starting in 2022. The announcement came ahead of the 2023 Netball World Cup that is currently held in South Africa.


Early career

Norma Plummer began her career in 1967 and represented Australian Diamonds in 1972 with who she spent a decade which includes the win at the
1975 World Netball Championships The 1975 World Netball Championships was the fourth edition of the INF Netball World Cup, a quadrennial premier event in international netball. It took place from 22 August to 4 September and was held in Auckland, New Zealand. It featured 11 teams ...
in New Zealand. She had a long and successful career as an Australian representative netballer, including a four-Test stint as national captain in 1978. After some time as playing coach of her state league team, Plummer embarked on a successful coaching career, coaching the Victorian state team to several victories at the national netball championships which was followed by her retirement from the team in 1982. and coaching the Melbourne Pumas in the
Esso/Mobil Superleague The Mobil Superleague, originally known as the Esso Superleague, was the top level national Australian netball league between 1985 and 1996. The league was Australia's first national netball league. It was organized by the All Australia Netba ...
. After the Mobil Superleague was disbanded in favour of the new
Commonwealth Bank Trophy The Commonwealth Bank Trophy, also referred to as the National Netball League, was the top level national Australian netball league between 1997 and 2007. The league was organized by Netball Australia. Its main sponsor was the Commonwealth Ba ...
, Plummer became the founding coach of the new
Melbourne Phoenix Melbourne Phoenix were an netball in Australia, Australian netball team that represented Netball Victoria in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy. Between 1997 in Australia, 1997 and 2007 in Australia, 2007, together with Melbourne Kestrels, they were o ...
team, which took many of the players from the former Pumas, and successfully coached them to the inaugural premiership. She was also appointed coach of the Australian youth team and took them to several successes. She subsequently resigned as coach of the Phoenix at the beginning of the 1999 season in order to take up a position as head netball coach at the
Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...
. While in this role, she was integral in the campaign to add the
AIS Canberra Darters Canberra Darters are a former Australian netball team based in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory. The team was originally formed as a partnership between the Australian Institute of Sport and Netball ACT. Between 2003 and 2007 they playe ...
to the national competition.


National coach


Australia

After several years as coach of the national youth team, and having been rumoured for the head national coach position since the late 1980s, Plummer was the obvious favourite when Jill McIntosh resigned in July 2003, and subsequently took the reins of the national team in late August. In her nearly three years as coach for the Australian team, she has retained her prior reputation as a hard coach willing to axe even star players if not performing, and remains widely respected, even with a downturn in the team's fortunes during 2005. In June 2006 after the silver medal in March at the Commonwealth Games Norma Plummer led her young team to victory in all Test Match Series in 2006 & 2007 and in November 2007 won the World Championships in Auckland, New Zealand. In 2008 Plummer's team Australian Diamonds, had beaten Silver Ferns 53 to 51 at the Horncastle Arena and two years later won a silver medal at the
2010 Commonwealth Games The 2010 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XIX Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Delhi 2010, were an international multi-sport event for the members of the Commonwealth that was held in Delhi, India, from 3 to 14 October 201 ...
in New Delhi. She also coached Australian national team at the 2011 Netball World Championships in Singapore. Norma has announced that she will be coaching the
West Coast Fever West Coast Fever is a professional Australian netball team based in Perth, Western Australia. Since 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they competed in the ANZ Championship. Between 1997 and 2007, as Pert ...
for season 2012, where she remained until 2014. In the 2013 Australia Day Honours, Plummer was appointed a
Member of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an Australian honours and awards system, Australian honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Monarch ...
(AM), "for significant service to the sport of netball as a coach and representative player." In 2014, after a 66–65 loss by her team
West Coast Fever West Coast Fever is a professional Australian netball team based in Perth, Western Australia. Since 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they competed in the ANZ Championship. Between 1997 and 2007, as Pert ...
, which was playing in
Dunedin Dunedin ( ; ) is the second-most populous city in the South Island of New Zealand (after Christchurch), and the principal city of the Otago region. Its name comes from ("fort of Edin"), the Scottish Gaelic name for Edinburgh, the capital of S ...
at that time, a resident of the city had made death threats towards her on her personal webpage.


South Africa

In June 2015 Plummer became the head coach of the
South Africa national netball team The South Africa national netball team, also known as the SPAR Proteas, represent Netball South Africa in international netball tournaments, such as the Netball World Cup, the Commonwealth Games, the Netball Quad Series and the Fast5 Netball W ...
. In 2018, Plummer had revealed that although she doesn't have a signed contract with the
Netball South Africa Netball South Africa is the main governing body for netball in South Africa. It is affiliated to World Netball and Africa Netball. It is responsible for organising and administering the South Africa national netball team, the South Africa me ...
, she will lead its national team to greatness at the
2019 Netball World Cup The 2019 Netball World Cup (also known as the 2019 Vitality Netball World Cup for sponsorship reasons) was the 15th edition of the INF Netball World Cup. It was held from 12–21 July 2019 at the Liverpool Arena in Liverpool, England with matches ...
in Liverpool. She stepped down as the coach of South African team following the 2019 World Cup where South Africa ended up at fourth position. Plummer returned to South Africa in 2022 as a mentor and advisor for the
2022 Commonwealth Games The 2022 Commonwealth Games, officially known as the XXII Commonwealth Games and commonly known as Birmingham 2022, were an international multi-sport event for members of the Commonwealth of Nations that took place in Birmingham, England betw ...
. After the games she was appointed as interim coach and lead the team through the 2023 Netball World Cup in Cape Town, where the team finished 6th. Following the conclusion of the 2023 Vitality Netball Series between England and South Africa she announced she would be stepping down.


References


External links


Speaker biography ICMI: Norma Plummer
. Retrieved on 2009-03-28.

Retrieved on 2009-02-23. {{DEFAULTSORT:Plummer, Norma Australian netball coaches West Coast Fever coaches Living people 1944 births Australian Institute of Sport netball coaches Australia international netball players Members of the Order of Australia Australia national netball team coaches Netball players from Melbourne Australian Netball League coaches Melbourne Phoenix coaches Commonwealth Bank Trophy coaches ANZ Championship coaches Esso/Mobil Superleague coaches 1975 World Netball Championships players People from Carlton, Victoria South Africa national netball team coaches 20th-century Australian sportswomen