Julie Seymour still giving back to the game

Former Silver Ferns and Canterbury netball captain Julie Seymour has received the New Zealand Order of Merit in Wellington.

Seymour, who retired in 2008, was one of 19 to be presented with an honour by Governor-General Sir Jerry Mateparae during an investiture ceremony at Government House yesterday.

Seymour said receiving the title was “an honour”. She paid tribute to those who would not be recognised in the same way.

“The people that sometimes miss out on the awards are the behind the scenes people in sport. You know they’re your first coaches when you’re seven and eight years old that get you to love the sport and it’s the lady in the tuck shop and all of those people.

“I’m not taking away that it’s lovely that people put you up for these awards and it is really nice, but there’s definitely a lot of other people in sport,” she said.

Seymour said her first representative coach, Leigh Gibbs, had been a major contributor to her successful career in the sport.

“Just her passion and love of the game and her really pushing you hard and making you realise that you were capable of a lot more,” she said. Seymour, who won 92 test caps, plans to continue giving back to the game that gave her so much.

“It seems silly not to stay in the sport and what I enjoy about coaching is helping others to try and get to their potential.” She said stepping into the coaching world, as assistant to Gibbs at the Canterbury Tactix, had been a hard but enjoyable challenge.