Southlander Lana Winders has been appointed as Netball South's new chief executive.
Winders replaces Sue Clarke, who finished up last week after a 26-month tenure in the job.
Netball South announced Winders would replace Clarke yesterday, and will start in her new role on March 26.
Winders has held various roles at SBS Bank in Invercargill in the past 18 years, including general manager of corporate performance for the past eight years.
Before getting into banking, she worked for the Southern District Health Board for five years.
Winders resigned from her position at SBS Bank last November so she and her husband, Jeremy, could take a ''gap year''.
However, when she saw an opening at the helm of Netball South she was ''too pleased'' to cut her gap year short.
Winders said she will not know of all the challenges that lie ahead until she starts the job, but she was aware of a couple.
''I think for any sports organisation there is the continuous challenge of that sustainable source of funding. That's just ongoing for any non-profit organisation,'' she said.
''Also, recruitment to the South Island, that can be a real challenge, attracting talent in.
''I used to recruit junior doctors for five years for the health board. Trying to recruit doctors to Southland was very difficult.
''Initially, my focus is to get out and talk to as many people as I can across Central Otago, Otago and Southland and just gauge what it is they want for both Netball South and our sport in the South.''
Retaining players in the South was also on Winders' mind, including star Jamaican goal shoot Jhaniele Fowler-Reid, who is in the last year of her three-year contract.
''She's been an absolute revelation for us, we would be very keen to hold on to her,'' Winders said.
Born and raised in Bluff, Winders went on to study human resource management at the University of Otago for four years.
She has four children - Max (21), Devon (19), Adam (12) and Rose (10) - and has played and coached netball since she was 9.
Winders played premier netball in Dunedin and Invercargill for 10 years, before going on to represent Southland.
She has coached premier and school teams the past eight years.
''It's all very much grass-roots playing and coaching experience that I've got . . . I've got netball running through my veins,'' she said.
Winders likes the way the Southern Steel, a team with just three players over 25, is shaping up and is confident the franchise is moving in the right direction.
Netball South chairman Paul Buckner said the organisation was looking for a chief executive of high calibre and Winders ''ticked all the boxes''.
''Lana has had a distinguished career with SBS Bank and that business experience, mixed with 30 years' involvement with netball, gives us every confidence that she will be a high performing chief executive.''
