Super Netball: Cairns fixture the biggest possible boost for FNQ netball
Hosting a Super Netball fixture in Cairns could deliver the biggest boost the sport has ever seen in Far North Queensland, according to Cairns Netball Association operations manager Tanya Dearns.
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Hosting a Super Netball fixture in Cairns could deliver the biggest boost the sport has ever seen in Far North Queensland, according to Cairns Netball Association operations manager Tanya Dearns.
Cairns is confirmed to host one game of the world’s premier netball competition during rounds 10-14, with the exact date and teams yet to be announced.
It will be the first time in the history of the Super Netball competition that a game will be played in Far North Queensland.
Dearns said netball needed a boost to increase its popularity in the region following the impact of the global coronavirus pandemic on the sport, and it got probably the biggest one it’s ever had with confirmation a Super Netball fixture would be coming to Cairns.
She hoped the benefits would be felt at the grassroots level.
“It’s really exciting and hopefully it generates some interest in our sport going forward,” Dearns said.
“It certainly needs an injection of enthusiasm, given the impact that COVID’s had on the community up here.
“To have two teams come up here will be a huge bonus for us and will provide an awesome opportunity for kids to see what it’s all about at the highest level.
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“Any exposure to the top level is only going to generate more interest in our game.”
The entire Super Netball competition relocated to Queensland in July following concerns of a second COVID-19 outbreak in the southern states.
While Dearns understood a Cairns fixture was likely be a one-off event in a coronavirus-affected season, she said it would hopefully provide an opportunity to leverage the Far North for more games in the future.
“We would love to have something ongoing, one game a season, but that comes back to what stadia we can provide and the ability of whoever is running the competition to be able to support it here in the Far North,” she said.
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“There’s a huge amount of costs involved to bring the floors up, because we don’t actually have a floor here or anything like that.
“But once the Convention Centre has been refurbished, there would be a thought that we could do it on a more permanent basis.”
The Far North fixture will be held at the Cairns pop-up arena at the old Bunnings Warehouse site on Spence St.
The temporary facility is being established by the State Government to ensure the Cairns Taipans have a home in the Far North to start the upcoming NBL season, with the Cairns Convention Centre unavailable until early February due to ongoing delays in the $176 million upgrade project.
The purpose-built venue is scheduled to be finished by the end of the month.
Originally published as Super Netball: Cairns fixture the biggest possible boost for FNQ netball