Briony Akle is a former Australia netball player and current netball coach. Between 1999 and 2004, Akle played for

Sydney Swifts Sydney Swifts were an Australian netball team based in Sydney. Between 1997 and 2007, they represented Netball New South Wales in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy league. Together with Sydney Sandpipers and Hunter Jaegers, they were one of three te ...

in the

Commonwealth Bank Trophy The Commonwealth Bank Trophy, also referred to as the National Netball League, was the top level national Australian netball league between 1997 and 2007. The league was organized by Netball Australia. Its main sponsor was the Commonwealth Ba ...

league. Akle was a member of the Sydney Swifts teams that won premierships in 2001 and 2004. Since 2017 she has been head coach of

New South Wales Swifts New South Wales Swifts are an Australian netball team based in Sydney, New South Wales. Since 2017 they have represented Netball New South Wales in Suncorp Super Netball. Between 2008 and 2016, they played in the ANZ Championship. The team wa ...

, guiding them to the

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

and 2021 Suncorp Super Netball titles.

Early life, education and family

Akle grew up in

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

's northwestern suburbs. Between 1990 and 1995, she attended

Castle Hill High School Castle Hill High School, located in Castle Street, Castle Hill, New South Wales, Australia, is a Mixed-sex education, co-educational and comprehensive school with students ranging from year 7 to year 12, established in 1963. Castle Hill High Sch ...

. She graduated from the

University of Western Sydney Western Sydney University, formerly the University of Western Sydney, is an Australian multi-campus university in the Greater Western region of Sydney, Australia. The university in its current form was founded in 1989 as a federated network u ...

after completing a Bachelor of Applied Science in Sports Management. Akle is married to Sarkis Akle, a hairdresser and salon owner. She is the mother of four sons – Xavier (born c. 2016), Sebastian (born c. 2006) and twins Charlie and Sam (born c. 2009).

Playing career

Sydney Swifts

Between 1999 and 2004, Akle made 53 appearances for

in the

league. Her team mates at Sydney Swifts included Megan Anderson, Catherine Cox and

Liz Ellis Elizabeth Margaret Ellis, (born 17 January 1973) is a retired Australian netball player, a member of the national team from 1992 until 2007 and captain for the last four of those years. She is the most capped international player for Australian ...

. Akle was a member of the Swifts teams that won premierships in 2001 and 2004. She played as a wing attack in both the 2001 and 2004 grand finals.

Coaching career

New South Wales

Between 2011 and 2015, Akle served as an assistant coach or head coach of various teams that represented

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

at the

Australian National Netball Championships The Australian National Netball Championships are a series of annual netball tournaments, organised by Netball Australia and featuring representative teams from the states and territories of Australia. The earliest tournaments took place during ...

. In 2011 she was head coach of the under-17 team that were runners-up. In 2012 she was assistant coach of the under-21 team that won the title. In 2014 and 2015 she was head coach of the under-19 teams. In 2015 Akle guided the under-19s to the title.

Australian Netball League

Between 2014 and 2017, Akle served as an assistant coach or head coach for teams that represented

in the

Australian Netball League The Australian Netball Championships, formerly the Australian Netball League, is an Australian netball competition. Since 2008 it has served as a second level competition, initially below the ANZ Championship and later below Suncorp Super Netb ...

. In 2014 she was head coach of NNSW Blues. In 2015 she was assistant coach with

NNSW Waratahs Netball New South Wales Waratahs is an Australian netball team that represents Netball New South Wales in the Australian Netball League. In 2008 they were founder members of the ANL. They were ANL champions in 2011 and have been grand finalist ...

. Between 2016 and 2017 she was head coach of Waratahs. In 2016 and she guided them to the ANL grand final.

NSWIS

In 2016, Akle was appointed head coach of the

New South Wales Institute of Sport The New South Wales Institute of Sport (NSWIS) is a high performance sports training institute located in New South Wales, Australia. The New South Wales government agency provides world leading coaching, performance support and daily training ...

netball program. In July 2017, Akle coached the NSWIS team that finished third in the

2017 Netball New Zealand Super Club The 2017 Netball New Zealand Super Club was the inaugural Netball New Zealand Super Club tournament. With a team coached by Reinga Bloxham, captained by Wendy Frew and featuring Gina Crampton, Jhaniele Fowler-Reid, Shannon Francois, and Jane Wa ...

tournament. The NSWIS team was a composite team featuring players from both

and

Giants Netball Giants Netball (stylised as GIANTS Netball) are an Australian netball team based in Greater Western Sydney, New South Wales. Since 2017 they have played in Suncorp Super Netball. The team was formed in 2016 as a joint venture between Netball N ...

New South Wales Swifts

In September 2017, ahead of the 2018 season, Akle was appointed head coach of

, replacing Rob Wright. In

, she guided Swifts to their first

Suncorp Super Netball Suncorp Super Netball is the top level netball league featuring teams from Australia. In 2017 it replaced the ANZ Championship, which also included teams from New Zealand, as the top level netball league in Australia. Since 2019, the league has ...

title. In the

grand final Primarily in Australian sports, a grand final (sometimes colloquially abbreviated to "grannie") is a game that decides a sports league's premiership (or championship) winning team, i.e. the conclusive game of a finals (or play-off) series. Sy ...

they defeated

Sunshine Coast Lightning Sunshine Coast Lightning are an netball in Australia, Australian netball team based at the University of the Sunshine Coast. The team was formed in 2016 in Australia, 2016 as a joint venture between the university and Melbourne Storm. Since 201 ...

64–47. She was subsequently named the 2019

Joyce Brown Coach of the Year The following is a list of notable netball coaches in Australia. National team head coaches The following is a list of head coaches of the Australia national netball team. Premiership winning coaches The following is a list of head coaches ...

. In

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

, despite having to go into isolation and having restrictions preventing her from entering

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

due the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, Akle guided Swifts to their second Suncorp Super Netball title. In the

they defeated

63–59.

Other employment

Between September 2004 and February 2006, Akle worked as an administration coordinator for

. Between February 2010 and January 2013, she worked as a community relations manager for

Sydney Roosters The Sydney Roosters are an Australian professional Rugby league, Rugby League Football Club based in the Eastern Suburbs (Sydney) and parts of inner Sydney. The club competes in the National Rugby League (NRL) competition. The Roosters have won ...

. Between February 2013 and February 2019 she worked as a community relations manager for

Parramatta Eels The Parramatta Eels are an Australian professional rugby league football club based in the Sydney suburb of Parramatta that competes in the National Rugby League. The Parramatta District Rugby League Football Club was formed in 1947, and their ...

Honours

Player

;

**''Winners'': 2001, 2004

Coach

;

**''Winners'':

;

**''Runners up'': 2016 ;

**''Winner'': Under-19 (2015) **''Runners up'': Under-17 (2011)

Individual awards

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Akle, Briony Living people 1977 births Australian netball coaches Australian netball players Netball players from Sydney Sydney Swifts players Australian Netball League coaches Suncorp Super Netball coaches New South Wales Institute of Sport coaches New South Wales Swifts coaches Western Sydney University alumni