After finishing her professional career with the Mainland Tactix last year, the former defender always knew she was shifting south from Canterbury for a new venture.
Her partner, Luke Knowles, secured a new gig as a stock agent after finishing his training with livestock broking company Hazlett, and the couple eventually settled in Lee Flat, just outside Outram.
Luckily, everything fell in place for Lloyd, who joined Netball South in mid-January as the new performance lead.
Lloyd, who had previously worked for the Selwyn Sports Trust, was passionate about staying in sport and recreation and was thrilled to be giving back to netball.
"This netball opportunity came up and it’s kind of my way of giving back to the netball community that they’ve given me so many years," Lloyd said.
"I feel like I’m in a good position to support those athletes and get those girls to stay — even if it is in any other sport — but give them the opportunities in whatever sport they want to do.
"Obviously, netball’s where my passion is."
Lloyd has taken over from incumbent Jo Morrison, who stepped down last year and has since been appointed as the New Zealand secondary schools head coach.
But Morrison had been a great sounding board and thrown her support behind Lloyd in her opening few weeks in the role.
"She’s left it in a good position for me to just step right into it.
"The team at Netball South are amazing. I really like the support down here and the community’s really engaged," Lloyd said.
Her main roles included supporting the Netball South development programme Steel Steps, which was created by Morrison, she said.
Steel Steps began at a secondary school level, supporting players as they moved through the accelerator and emerging pathways, into the Southern Blast and hopefully through to being Southern Steel training partners and players.
Lloyd, originally from Ashburton, said she felt she was in a good place to support those players and prepare them for the next steps of their journey.
In 2017, Lloyd joined the Tactix as a replacement player and was part of the New Zealand under-21 team that won the World Youth Cup title the same year.
The rangy defender earned 91 caps across her seven seasons — including a stint with the Waikato-Bay of Plenty Magic in 2018 — in the ANZ Premiership.
"I guess it’s like every girl’s dream, really, getting to play sport at a competitive level and obviously make it a job and make it your lifestyle.
"I’m really grateful for the opportunities that I’ve had through netball and feel like I’m in a position now where I can happily give back to the community in some form of way."
She was looking forward to being on the right side of the Southern netball fraternity’s passionate support and was loving life in Otago so far.
"I love it. It’s fun being out here."
