Ilze Gideons has hailed the Bermuda netball team as a “coach’s dream” after targeting a top-three finish at the Netball Europe Invitational in Aberdeen, Scotland.

Gideons has worked with the Bermuda players for the past two months preparing them for the Championships — which run from May 11 to 14 — where they will face three other “developing nations” in Ireland, Gibraltar and Israel.

The South African said she was initially concerned about the players’ lack of international experience but has been reassured by their commitment, willingness to learn and improvement on the court.

“We have a great task ahead of us, but the girls have been working really hard and I’m looking forward to seeing what they can produce,” Gideons said.

“I was worried at the beginning as we didn’t have much international exposure, but having seen the girls train and after doing my own research, I think we’ve got a chance of a top-three finish.”

Gideons’s hiring on a part-time basis is part of the Bermuda Netball Association’s ambitious aim of reaching the 2018 Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast, Australia. The BNA received a £30,000 grant from the Commonwealth Games Federation Developmental Programme, facilitated through the Bermuda Olympic Association, and immediately approached Gideons, who held a coaching clinic on the island in 2013.

To qualify, Bermuda must be ranked among the top 14 countries in the world by July and have played at least eight international matches — with the BNA also arranging fixtures against the United States in Brooklyn next month.

Gideons, a former semi-professional, said Aberdeen is the first stepping stone to reaching the Commonwealth Games, but admits that qualification is a long shot.

“It’s a little tricky because some of the teams we’re playing in Aberdeen aren’t ranked and we have to play those teams twice for it to count as a ranking match. If we play a ranked team it counts as one game,” said Gideons, who works as a youth pastor in Harlem, where she is setting up a netball academy.

“We need to hit those eight games and it’s still a possibility. My priority right now, however, is just getting the girls ready.”

Gideons grew up in apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa and used sport, particularly netball, as an outlet to express herself.

Her passion for the game was further stoked at high school when she was coached by Bronwyn Bock-Jonathan, a former South Africa netball captain, who inspired Gideons to dream big.

“It was very challenging throughout my entire childhood,” she said. “I’m a person of colour and I would often go to trials, make it to the end, and never get chosen.

“I’d have other moms going to the judges’ table and fighting on my behalf saying, ‘Why aren’t you picking this kid? It’s clear she needs to be here’.

“I’d stopped going to trials and then I had the biggest privilege of being coached by Bronwyn Bock-Jonathan, the first [South African] woman of colour to carry the flag at the Commonwealth Games [in Manchester in 2002].

“She spoke to me and said, ‘Ilze, what are you going to do after school?’ Having that poverty mentality, I was like, ‘I’ll go and work at a retail store that sells athletic shoes as I’m an athlete’.

“She said, ‘this is not the way for you’ and encouraged me to apply for a scholarship at the Stellenbosch University. That started a journey of exposure that I never thought I would be able to have.”

Although she is younger than some of her players, the 33-year-old said she that has faced no problems commanding the respect of her players and believes they have responded well to her “firm but fair’ approach.

“While I’m young I think I demand respect because I give it,” Gideons said. “When I first got here there was way too much familiarity between the coaches and players and that had to change.

“Now the players have earned my respect they’re starting to see me come to life, both on and off the court.

“There’s a great camaraderie between them, as diverse as they are, and skill-wise they’re really quick on their feet and they’ve been a joy to coach.”

Although Gideons would jump at the opportunity to lead the team beyond June — when her contract expires — she concedes that funding will be a major stumbling block.

“I would love a long-term role but women in sport and finances is such a big question mark,” said the former head coach of the US University team.

“I have no idea what will happen when my contract ends but my hope is that I’ll come back.”