SINGAPORE: Netball Singapore's Ruth Aitken will leave her positions as Technical Director and Head Coach of the national team at the end of this year.

The 60-year-old will be joining club

side Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic in New Zealand, where she will oversee the development of Waikato Bay in both its elite coaching programme and the development of the players, coaches and umpires.

In a media statement, Aitken cited her family as a key factor for her return to her native New Zealand.

Said the former Silver Ferns coach: “I have absolutely loved my three years with Netball Singapore and the national team, but the time has come for me to return home to my family commitments in New Zealand.

“I leave with many fantastic memories and friendships and am delighted that Netball Waikato Bay of Plenty would like to work towards building a close connection with Netball Singapore in the future. I look forward to being able to liaise between the two organisations for the benefit of both.”

During her stint with Netball Singapore, Aitken guided Singapore to gold medal success at the 2014 Asian Netball Championships and the 2015 SEA Games. The netball team also won the Team of the Year (Team Sport) award at the Singapore Sports Awards for two consecutive years in 2014 and 2015.

Aitken has been lauded for her ability to identify talented players and widening the pool of national players over the past 3 years.

Netball Singapore coach Ruth Aitken (centre) during a tournament in 2014. (File photo: Ooi Boon Keong/TODAY)

Goal Shooter Charmaine Soh - who credits the team's improvements to Aitken's guidance - praised the changes the Kiwi coach made during her three-year stint: “She made a lot of changes in the team, helped develop new players and the most significant thing for me was the way she inspires the team with her positivity."

She told Channel NewsAsia: “She’s always optimistic about everything and is always encouraging us to go for it and when we’re down or losing, when we look at her we know we have to keep fighting an never give up.”

While Aitken’s decision was generally expected by the players, the announcement was greeted with mixed emotions. “When the news broke, we were all sending congratulatory messages to her on her new appointment and her new job,” said 26-year-old Soh.

“Most of us are having mixed feelings. As we want her here, her family needs her more. Ruth is definitely like a mother to us, a friend on and off court. She inspires us to be better people and better players, so her leaving is quite upsetting but at the same time happy for her as well.”

Added Soh: ““We still have training and Ruth will be taking us till the end of the year until we find a new coach. We’ll just have to continue training and do our best, keeping our fitness up. Next year is a crucial year for us, as it’ll be the SEA Games and focus on doing the best as the process is more important.”

Under Aitken’s guidance, the national team has also built up its strength and conditioning programme so that the team is more competitive internationally. Aitken has helped bring Singapore up from 21^st to 17^th in the world rankings.

One of coach Ruth Aitken's (5th from right) best achievements with Team Singapore: The 2015 SEA Games Gold medal. (Photo: Netball Singapore)

Netball Singapore’s President Jessica Tan thanked Aitken for her contributions: “Ruth has played an instrumental role in shaping the success of the national team and in widening the pool of developmental players.

“She is an approachable and dedicated coach and she has instilled belief in the team that they can win. It will be hard to replace someone of such calibre but we wish her the very best in her new role. Our next immediate step will be to search for a world-class coach who can take the team to the next level and to prepare for the SEA Games in 2017.”

Former national captain Micky Lin recalled Aitken’s impact during last year’s SEA Games win, adding that Aitken has set the bar high for the next coach: “I’m sure (her departure) will be sad for the team. Ruth is a great person and more importantly she is a great person to be around. She has during her time here bonded the team, built structures in and around the team and helped the team grow as well.”

“Even this year, when I’m no longer playing and watching on the sidelines, they did make great improvements over the past few months as well. I’m sure the team will definitely miss her, and even those of us who have retired, we’ll all miss her as well.”