‘We trust you’: A $6 million pledge renews faith in netball

Federal Sports Minister Anika Wells has praised the change in Netball Australia’s leadership, describing a $6 million pledge to the 2027 Netball World Cup in Sydney as a vote of confidence in the sport.

The minister’s glowing endorsement of netball was a stark contrast to the events of December, when the federal government pulled $17 million it had committed to the sport, accusing the peak netball body of failing to provide a convincing proposal.

Anika Wells and members of the Diamonds squad on Friday.

The new 22-page proposal submitted by new Netball Australia boss Stacey West – one of her first tasks as chief executive – was a far cry from the sport’s previous submission, which ASC boss Kieren Perkins had described as lacking due diligence.

“It was also not clear how the proposed activities were going to be sustainable once the funding was exhausted,” Perkins had said. Kelly Ryan resigned as netball boss that same month.

Since then, the sport has appointed West as chief executive and Liz Ellis as chair and added two new board members in netball Hall of Famer Kirrily Zimmerman and NSW’s first female attorney-general, Gabrielle Upton.

Wells said: “I’ve been really impressed with Stacey [West], from when she’s come through as interim CEO, and we’ve worked together over a period of months now.”

New Netball Australia boss Stacey West.Credit: AAP

Wells acknowledged the previous submission – which was not focused on the World Cup – “didn’t have the kind of detail that could give me the assurance to tick it off.

“We’ve worked with Netball Australia since that time. They’ve put up a bid for the World Cup that had great detail.”

Wells also confirmed more money would be pumped into the 10-day event in the years ahead.

“This is not to say, ‘This is it. All the very best, see you in 2027.’ This is to say, ‘We see how hard you’ve worked, we trust you, we have confidence in you, and here’s $6 million to get it going,’” she said.

Wells pointed to “great initiatives” within the submission, particularly its focus on First Nations. The money will be spent on seven key areas including staff support, school campaigns and the event’s campaign. It will also provide funding assistance for two competing countries. Unlike other world sporting events, the 16 competing nations are responsible for funding their entire attendance in the event, including travel.

Netball officials are conservatively aiming for a total attendance of 100,000 across the 10-day event, about the same recorded across the 2015 World Cup in Sydney. That event made history when 16,752 people flocked to the Sydney Super Dome for the final, a world record for any netball game at the time.

But Ellis, speaking on the Good Weekend podcast, said she had larger ambitions for the upcoming World Cup.

“We’ve got this awesome opportunity to have our Diamonds moment … I want us to have 50,000 people at the [World Cup] final in Sydney. So we’ve got to figure out a way to do that,” Ellis said before the funding announcement.

The success of the cup is vital for the sport, amid worries about the future of the Commonwealth Games and netball’s current ineligibility to compete in the Olympics because of its lack of an elite male competition.

The Diamonds’ 18-player squad announced on Friday included three new players: goalkeeper Ash Ervin (Sunshine Coast Lightning) and midcourters Georgie Horjus (Adelaide Thunderbirds) and Hannah Mundy (Melbourne Vixens).

Captain Liz Watson and vice captain Paige Hadley are among the 15 returning athletes from the Diamonds’ successful 2023 campaign, which included being crowned world champions in South Africa.

Two invitee athletes were also announced, with Lucy Austin (Adelaide Thunderbirds) and Emily Mannix (Melbourne Vixens) to join the squad at all training camps over the next 12 months.

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