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Sunshine Coast Lightning coach Noeline Taurua has announced she'll step down at the end of this year's Super Netball campaign.
Successful Sunshine Coast Lightning coach Noeline Taurua is to leave the Super Netball club at the end of the season.
Taurua has led the Lightning to the past two Super Netball titles and the team is top of the ladder heading into this weekend's final round of the regular season.
As well as her back-to-back title wins with the Lightning, Taurua has combined the role over the past 12 months with the head coaching position of the New Zealand netball team.
The 51-year-old steered the Silver Ferns to this year's World Cup and will continue in that role for October's Constellation Cup against Australia and January's Quad Series in England.
Taurua said a desire to return to her homeland was behind the decision to quit the Lightning.
"For family reasons, I have made the difficult decision that it is time for me to step back from full time coaching duties at Lightning and return home to New Zealand," she said.
"My family and I have had the most amazing time living on the Sunshine Coast and being part of the Lightning family, but now feels like the right time."
Assistant Kylee Byrne will replace Taurua at the Lightning for the 2020 Super Netball campaign, having worked alongside the New Zealander for the past two seasons.
"I am equally proud and filled with confidence with the promotion of my coaching partner over the past three years, Kylee Byrne, to the head coaching position and have full belief in what she can continue to achieve at this club," Taurua said.
While Taurua will remain at the helm of the Silver Ferns for the short-term, she said a decision on her long-term future in the role would be made after the Quad Series in England.
"It has been an absolute privilege to coach the Silver Ferns and work with such a special group of people," Taurua said.
"I need to take the time to settle back home and contemplate where the next journey will take my family and I."
The Super Netball semi-finals begin on August 31 with the grand final scheduled for Sunday, September 15.
The Silver Ferns Constellation Cup squad is expected to be named in early September with the first Test against the Diamonds in Christchurch on October 13 and the second Test in Auckland on October 16.
