Netball Wellington is mourning the loss of a coach who was found dead at her home on Monday.
Irene Katsougiannis, aged 62, was a coach at Netball Wellington and formed the Olympic Netball Club in 2014.
Netball Wellington's community director Sue Geale said her death came as a shock to those who knew her.
"They're hurting, we’ve talked to some of them, there's been tears, they're shocked, yeah, it's hard.
"She was one of these sorts of really lovely, small, gentle people who just comes in and wants to do the good for the community," said Geale.
"The club, they were welcomed to her home, they were just part of the extended whānau for her, and that’s how the Greek community are like."
Police said the person believed to be responsible for Katsougiannis' death was a man known to her, who left New Zealand on Sunday, October 15.
The man has since died in Hong Kong, and police there are investigating.
"It definitely doesn’t add up with the person that we know," Geale said.
Katsougiannis was also a mother, and a widow after her husband died a few years ago.
Geale said she will be missed by all those who knew her at Netball Wellington.
"She wasn’t just a coach, she was actually more than that, she was actually the heart of the Olympic Club.
"The legacy that she created in that Olympic Club and how she actually brought them through our ranks and achieved some really good things in that senior grade, that’s never going to be forgotten," she said.
A post-mortem was completed yesterday, and police will report their investigation findings to the Coroner.
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