Harbour Basketball has recently welcomed two new members to its Board and we recently caught up with one of those members, Jane Finlayson.

Jane epitomizes the old adage – if you want something doing ask a busy person. A mother of three Jane works full time, is a member of two other management boards and coaches the Orewa College senior girls’ basketball team.

The Red Beach resident is the Manager Business & Enterprise at Auckland Tourism, Events and Economic Development (ATEED). She and husband Darren Henare own a business and have three basketball playing children Georgia (19), Ariana (16) and Angus(14).

All three have played basketball for North Harbour and Orewa College where Jane has been influential in developing basketball.  

“We have put a lot of effort into the programme at Orewa and we have managed to attract a number of good coaches which have made a tremendous impact. The girls team have had three seasons in the Auckland Premier competition and the boys programme is building after winning the Northern Cup last season.”

That involvement has been of a hands-on nature this year as Jane reluctantly took over the coaching role of the girls premier team for 2017 after Tony Webster resigned at the beginning of the year to take up a full time role with Tauranga City Basketball.

“I wasn’t a basketball player myself I played a lot of hockey in Northland and Manawatu and played premier grade in Auckland for Southern Districts.”

Husband Darren was a Waikato rugby player and is now also a coach and the pair have certainly passed on their love of sport to their children.

“I got into basketball because Georgia wanted to play at Red Beach School when she was a five year old. The Stanmore Bay Leisure Centre offered a brilliant local miniball programme. I began coaching at that stage and that is where my love for the game began.

We chatted during the Auckland Secondary School Premierships at North Shore Events Centre and Jane was excited about the standard of the girl’s tournament.

“It has been a great competition with so many good teams.”

The development of female basketball is one area Jane is keen to focus on in her role on the Harbour Board.

“The big change that has come about in the last few years is the pathway that the game provides for girls, it is so much stronger now, there are so many girls getting the opportunity to go to the States. Basketball is also a great sport for developing people and that is primarily why I coach – sport is such a great thing for girls to be involved in as it teaches them so many things.

“We have a number of top female coaches and players in the ranks already but the female voice is often under represented at the governance table which is one of the reasons I have joined the Board.  After the tragic loss of Tania Dalton – I have big shoes to fill but I don’t want her initial work around the women’s programme to lose momentum.”

“I do quite a lot of governance work having been on boards for a number of years and have learnt a lot from working with great leaders with vision.”

In addition to the Harbour Basketball Board Jane currently serves on the Orewa College and Sport Waitakere Boards and is the former chair of the Red Beach School Board.

“I believe good governance is really, really important because it is about making sure things are done for the right reasons, why and how we are doing them and ensuring they are aligned to what the strategy is. All organisations can improve and it generally comes from good leadership and good governance.

“When you have an organization as big as Harbour Basketball it has a lot of impact.”

“There are big numbers involved now and it is only going to get bigger which means there are quite a few things that need to be focused on and facilities are one of them. The rep programme is very successful and we need to ensure basketball is accessible and not just focus on the top end.”

“There are a lot of decisions to make in the future with the growth of the sport. We can go with the growth or consolidate and continue to do a good job of what we are doing. We need to be wary of distractions, get our fundamentals right and on that strong base we can grow.”

Jane’s governance experience has also taught her the value of listening to members and stakeholders.  “Feedback is an important measure and can help organisations focus on what’s important and ensure the right outcomes are being realized.

With basketball playing numbers both nationally and on the North Shore at an all time high a person with Jane’s passion and experience seems ideally placed to help Harbour Basketball take advantage of the sport’s growing popularity.