Former Australia Diamonds netball coach Lisa Alexander has been named on the 2021 Australia Day honours list, receiving a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to netball at the elite level.
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Now a resident of Avoca, Ms Alexander coached the Australian national netball team for nine years, winning gold medals at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland and the 2011 and 2015 Netball World Cup tournaments.
Across 102 tests, Ms Alexander coached the Diamonds to 83 wins. She also had coaching stints at the Melbourne Phoenix and the Australian under-21 side and assistant roles with the Adelaide Thunderbirds and World VII.
Ms Alexander said she was 'chuffed' to receive the honour, ranking it near the top of her lengthy list of achievements.
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"It's a personal award but it's also an award on behalf of the sport, so it's right up there," she said.
"The achievements coaching the team are probably my highest achievements but it's the recognition of work over the time, not just in my job of coach, but the extra community representation and work in the netball community that's really important."
In terms of off-court achievements, Ms Alexander said she was most proud to help forge a path for regional Victorian coaches to make it to the elite level.
"I started my journey in regional Victoria in Leongatha and you can get to the highest level as long as you work hard and keep persisting," she said.
Ms Alexander only moved to Avoca about 12 months ago after a long search for a country property.
While she has visited regional centres like Ballarat and Bendigo through netball, Ms Alexander said she had never been to Avoca before moving.
I'd never been to Avoca before and I just fell in love. It's a great little village, as we like to call it.
- Lisa Alexander
"We love the climate, it's a terrific place, we have great neighbours and it's a gorgeous little town."
Ms Alexander thanked netballers across the state for the honour.
"Hopefully they're just as proud and pleased because it's for them as well," she said.
"I'm really proud of the sport in terms of what it gives back to the community and that's a really important thing for our state and country people in particular. It's a great sport to be involved with and I'm happy and blessed to be part of it."
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