Wodonga Raiders coach Jodie House on the importance of players' mental welbeing

That's the view of Wodonga Raiders coach Jodie House, who's preparing for her fifth year in charge of the Ovens and Murray side.

"I think, more than ever, my approach for netball in season 2022 will be, while we want to win games, COVID has highlighted the importance of what this does for girls with their mental health and bringing them together as a unit, giving them a social network outside of normal life and we need to really remain focused on that," House said.

"It is a game of netball, it is sport and it's meant to be enjoyable for them.

"Part of my role next year will be to ensure that is how the players feel.

"One of the tough things with COVID, more so this year than last year, was the unknown as to what was going to happen from week to week and that had a massive impact on a lot of girls.

"One of the areas we often look at is our communication and transparency. How can we do that better?

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"There are times throughout the season when you might have difficult conversations or you're not meeting the needs of players and as a coach, we have to be willing to sit back and listen to those girls and take their feedback on board."

Raiders will be without four-time best-and-fairest winner Brooke Pryse this year and House expects more clubs to suffer similar losses.

"With two COVID-impacted seasons, there's a bit of movement with players leaving the Ovens and Murray and going into some outer leagues where the commitment and the seriousness of it is not as great," she said.

"They've realised there is life outside of what they've been doing for most of their life.

"You'd like to think that would even the league out but clubs like Corowa-Rutherglen and Yarrawonga, who have that middle age group of players, I think they'll continue to be strong.

"It will be an ongoing challenge for the clubs who have that younger age group, where kids are continually moving on, to fill the gaps or provide that level of experience on the court."

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