By Renae Smyth
The skilful midcourter carved out a playing career with the PNG Pepes’ spanning 18 years, taking the court on 63 occasions.
Calling time on her playing days in 2016, the 43-year-old didn’t step away from the sport completely, taking up a coaching role at Port Moresby Netball Association.
With plenty of experience to pass down, Mavara spends most Tuesday and Thursday evenings with an energetic group of under 10s.
“I’m passionate about getting out there and helping young girls in any way I can,” she said.
“I find that if you can build a strong foundation of basics early, there is much less work to do later on.
“Getting in early with footwork, balance and agility will set up the player for when they reach under 15s, 17s and beyond.”
Mavara also encourages players to have something else besides netball. Attributing life skills learnt at her youth group growing up as a contributor to her success at the national level.
“I was able to take what I was learning in my youth group, like accountability, discipline and respect into my game,” she said.
“I always encourage players to get to know each other and develop those all-important relationship skills.
“How do we build each other up instead of just coming in and playing the game and going home.”
Although Mavara admits that supporting the next generation is rewarding, it’s a commitment that comes with its own set of unique challenges.
Courts are few and far between, so Mavara is often left to share the limited space with older netball teams and other sporting codes.
“We don’t have many courts, so it can be quite chaotic at times, trying to juggle all the girls,” she said.
“At the same time, we don’t have many coaches. Sometimes I would have two under 10 teams and two under 13 teams all together.
“The costing of the courts also comes into play. You have to pay hourly, so we try to squeeze in as much as we can into training to make the most of the time together.”
As well as helping players develop their skills, Mavara is also looking forward to her own development as a coach.
“Everyone is different, so I’m mindful about my approach and how I can best help someone to become a better person or player,” she said.
“It’s trying to work with all different ideas, beliefs and attitudes to make a difference in a positive way. This is a work in progress on my part.”
Elsewhere, Mavara has enthusiastically participated in the One Netball PNG Hamamas Lo Pilai program last month, which combined netball activities with hygiene education.
Spending time with students from primary schools in the Rigo district, netball was able to provide a soft entry point for girls to discuss the highly sensitive issue of menstruation, which is otherwise a taboo topic in the classroom.
“I enjoyed being able to go out and share my love of the sport and use game-based activities to get important messages across,” she said.
Mavara said as many as 20-30 students have turned out to each of the sessions across the seven weeks.
“It’s been a really good program that Netball Australia and Water Aid have put together under the Team Up initiative,” she said.
"We spoke about self-confidence, communication, leadership, personal hygiene and menstrual health.
“To see the participants, speak up and ask questions on topics that wouldn’t normally be covered in school or at home was wonderful. We had created a safe space where students could learn.”
