Lauren Piebenga will coach the Southern side in the five-team league, which will underpin the ANZ Championship.
Piebenga, who coached Otago to a national title in 2013, said it was "very exciting'' to be given the job due to the limited opportunities in high-performance coaching in New Zealand.
She will work closely with newly appointed Steel coach Noeline Taurua, and said the pair had already started planning for next year.
"I'm looking forward to having a new coaching style in the zone,'' Piebenga said.
"Noeline will be mentoring me through the season and that's really exciting for me personally as a coach.
"We had a really good planning meeting last week to look at all the opportunities we can run the teams together.''
Piebenga, who coached the Netball South under-23 team last year, will hold an open trial on February 20-21.
With the national league team playing its matches after ANZ Championship games, up to three Steel franchise players can play for the team.
"We will be looking at giving all the high-performance players within the zone maximum court time,'' she said.
"For the Steel players that aren't getting regular court time, that's a real bonus for them.''
With Jhaniele Fowler-Reid and Te Paea Selby-Rickit likely to feature at the attacking end for the Steel, shooters Brooke Leaver and Jamie Hume could feature in the underpinning league.
Defender Abby Erwood is another Steel player who will probably see plenty of court time in the national league.
Piebenga will continue to work full-time as a teacher at Columba College, and said the team would be based in Dunedin.
That is despite it playing four of its six home games in Invercargill, with away games scheduled for Wellington and Christchurch.
The national league, which features one team from each of the five New Zealand zones - Northern, Central, Waikato-BOP, Mainland and South - will run over 12 weeks from April.
Teams will play a double round-robin, including 14 post-ANZ Championships games and seven stand-alone games.
The top two teams will contest the final in Auckland on June 26.
Netball South chief executive Lana Winders said the league had provided a tangible pathway for coaches as well as players.
"The league isn't just about the players. It's about creating the opportunity for our home-grown coaches to experience a higher intensity of competition and take a step forward in their ability to compete for franchise roles in the future,'' she said.
Netball South will advertise for an assistant coach and team manager next month.
● Netball Central has appointed former Silver Ferns shooter Irene van Dyk as junior development officer.
National League
Netball South's schedule
v Northern, Invercargill, April 10
v Mainland, Invercargill, April 24
v Waikato-BOP, Invercargill, April 30
v Central, Wellington, May 15,
v Waikato-BOP, Dunedin, May 29
v Mainland, Christchurch, June 5
v Northern, Dunedin, June 11
v Central, Invercargill, June 19
