When
Maggie Birkinshaw, then a first team coach of UK Super League team, Leeds
Rhinos, agreed to come out in 2024 to host a residential, we realised there was
a chance for our academy to really make a difference. When she agreed to leave
her career in the UK and become our full-time head of netball from the start of
2026, we knew it for sure.
Maggie
is a legend of the game, has 76 England Roses caps, has played in three world
cups and remains on the selection panel for the current England team. She has
coached for many years in the UK Super League, with many of the world’s best
players developed under her hand.
Maggie
was shocked to hear that Tanzania is languishing as one of the weakest sides in
the world whilst neighbours Uganda and Malawi are in the top 10. We first
brought her across to Tanzania in 2024 to take a look at girls from a range of
standards within the country and to chart a positive way forward.
She
is now building a team of coaches around her who will create a level of
professionalism at the Tent With A View netball academy, never before seen in
Tanzanian women’s sport. She aims to take our girls into the elite of world
youth netball inside four years and then feed the full national team with
players to compete at the very top of the game.
