Māori Sports Awards Supreme Co-Winner Noeline Taurua will stay on as Silver Ferns head coach for at least one more year.
Netball NZ has announced Taurua, who led the Silver Ferns to the world title in Liverpool earlier this year, has recommitted to the position until the end of February 2021.
Taurua (Ngāpuhi) was last month named Coach of the Year at the 29th Māori Sports Awards and was announced joint winner of the Alby Pryor Memorial - Rongomaraeroa trophy alongside Lisa Carrington as the Supreme award winner.
She returned home to New Zealand recently after three years coaching in Australia and felt the one-year commitment was a good fit for her family, and she was looking forward to the challenges ahead for the world champions.
After the World Championships, she announced she would be stepping down from her Silver Ferns role but committing to not leaving NZ in the lurch. She agreed to stay in the role for the Constellation Cup Series against Australia in October and the Netball Nations Cup in England next year, but had not committed to anything beyond that.
She wants the Silver Ferns to target short term goals and stressed the importance of building year on year rather than focusing solely on pinnacle events.
"I want the emphasis to be on continuing momentum. It is a shift in thinking but it's that challenge that I'm really excited about," she said.
"I've been looking forward to coming home and helping to develop the next steps for the Silver Ferns."
Since returning home she has been building towards next month's Vitality Netball Nations Cup in England where the Silver Ferns take on England, Jamaica and South Africa.
Netball NZ Chief Executive Jennie Wyllie said it was exciting for Netball in this country to have Taurua remain at the helm of the Silver Ferns for the next year.
"It was really important that we gave Noeline the space to make that decision after the massive commitment she gave to Netball in New Zealand over the past two years," she said.
"We're delighted to have secured her services – she is a world-class coach who is widely respected in this game, not just in this country but around the world."
The Silver Ferns head to the Vitality Netball Nations Cup in the New Year, where they play hosts England Roses in Nottingham on January 19 followed by the Jamaican Sunshine Girls (January 22 in Birmingham) and SPAR Proteas (January 25 in London).
The final of the Vitality Netball Nations Cup is in London on January 26.