Netball call for a 10,000 seat home for NSW Swifts and Giants
NETBALL NSW chief Carolyn Campbell says fans will be queuing up if the Sydney Olympic Park tennis centre is adapted into a venue capable of hosting 10,000 strong netball crowds.
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NETBALL NSW chief Carolyn Campbell says the issue of revamping the NSW tennis centre into a 10,000 seat stadium for netball is more urgent than ever with news there is no guaranteed venue for the Swifts or Giants if they win the right to host the preliminary final or Grand Final of Super Netball this season.
Campbell on Thursday confirmed while the 3200-seat Quay Centre (formerly the State Sports Centre at Sydney Olympic Park) is available for the weekend of the semi-final, there are no guaranteed venues in Sydney for the following finals matches.
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“If one of our teams wins the right to host the preliminary final or Grand Final we will have to take it out of Sydney,’’ Campbell said.
“That’s the issue we have. That’s the reality of it for us.
“If it is a semi-final we can host that at Quay Centre. But I’m not sure what would happen if we were hosting both.’’
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Ahead of the second season of Super Netball kicking off this weekend, Campbell said the sport is crying out for a bigger home for its two top teams — the Swifts and Giants.
And she sees an estimated $50m tennis centre refurbishment as the solution if it is upgraded with a roof.
“We can’t wait for a new one to be built, we need a quick solution and my understanding is a roof can be done in around 18 months,’’ she said
Campbell is confident weekly fixtures during the Super Netball season could attract record crowds and is advocating the NSW government and Sydney Olympic Park “to make it happen’’.
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“We are about to develop a new strategy to take this campaign forward,’’ said Campbell, who is liaising with Tennis NSW on the issue.
“We are revising the strategy, reviewing it to take it back to the NSW government.
“We are asking for some of that money that was initially going to be spent on ANZ Stadium.’’
Campbell said membership has risen for both the Swifts and the Giants ahead of season two with in excess of 10,000 fans expected to attend the weekend’s opening double header at Qudos Bank arena.
But ticketed memberships for both clubs must be capped at below 3000 due to the size of the Quay Centre which hosts the majority of matches.
“It does impact on our business model. It is putting a cap on our growth,’’ Campbell said.
“We can only sell the numbers of seats we have.
“If we had a 10,000 seat stadium we could sell those memberships.’’
In a first, two matches will be played at the International Convention Centre this season.
But the city games are “horrendously” expensive, as is not filling the 17,000 plus Qudos Bank arena for games.
“Qudos is expensive. We need numbers to make to work,’’ Campbell said.
“If we could get a roof on the tennis centre we could take all the games there except the blockbusters. We need the seats.
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“On a good day we’d have then lining up outside. On a bad one we’d still have 8000.’’
Netball Australia boss Marne Fechner backed Campbell’s calls for the tennis centre overhaul for a sport which, as the biggest female sporting code, boasts 120,000 registered players.
“There is no question there is a need for a 10,000 seat stadium,’’ Fechner said.
“To have that middle ground between the Sports Centre and Qudos. That middle ground is important.
“It’s very important to have those wins. When that happens we will see audiences grow.’’
On Sunday Qudos will host a NSW double-header with the Giants playing Sunshine Coast Lightning in a Grand Final replay and the Swifts hosting the Queensland Firebirds.