Torquay land netball star Browne as head coach

TORQUAY has appointed former Australian Diamonds star Madison Browne as its BNL head coach on a three-year contract.

A dual Liz Ellis Diamond winner and sports broadcaster with Fox Netball and SEN, Browne stepped into the head coaching role this month, taking the reins from long-serving A grade coach Sonia Harris, who is travelling around Australia with her family.

Browne has been a specialist coach with the Tigers since November after moving to Torquay from Melbourne with her young family.

“The club asked me and said ‘Hey, would you like to step in?’ and I said ‘Look, let me just find my feet for a little bit and then we’ll see how we go’,” she said about stepping up to head coach.

“And then all of a sudden I said ‘You know what? I think I’m ready’.

“Once I got in here, once you meet all the people, once you start doing it, it brought my love back for coaching and things like that, and I was like ‘Okay, cool, I would like to take it on’.”

 

She spoke about the transition from specialist coach to leading the A grade team.

“I’ve obviously run many sports clinics and done a lot of specialist stuff with academies and things like that, but actually running a team for this extended time or really owning it, I haven’t done for a long time, if ever. So it excites me a little bit.”

She noted the Tigers had some incredible juniors coming through the ranks.

Browne is thrilled to be taking on the role while juggling being a new mum to her 15-month-old son Judd with her partner Harry Whitty.

She has a village of people to draw on, and her parents live in Geelong.

Torquay president Michael Gibson thanked Harris and highlighted Browne’s attributes.

“What stands out most is her commitment to building culture through genuine connection – not just with players, but with their families and the wider community,” Gibson said.

“She brings a new level of professionalism and profile to our club and is a powerful ambassador for netball across the Bellarine and Geelong region.”

The Tigers play away to Barwon Heads at 1.50pm tomorrow (Saturday, June 21).