Bianca Chatfield: Major changes to world netball’s calendar ‘well overdue’ says Australian Diamonds’ great

A prospectus prepared by World Netball for potential investors has revealed a number of changes to the global netball schedule, which Bianca Chatfield says are much needed given the opportunities available to the sport.

Former Diamonds defender Bianca Chatfield says a proposal to overhaul the world netball schedule is “well overdue” and an exciting concept to make the game a global powerhouse in women’s sport.

The World Cup will be held every two years, and a new biennial competition, the Continental Cup, introduced under a radical World Netball plan to increase opportunities at the elite level of the sport.

This masthead exclusively revealed the plan earlier this week after viewing a copy of a prospectus for potential investors and broadcasters prepared by World Netball in conjunction with Netball Australia, Netball New Zealand and Netball England.

Bianca Chatfield says a proposed overhaul of the world netball schedule is ‘overdue’. Picture: Supplied

“I think it’s probably well overdue for netball,” Chatfield said of plans to shake up the calendar which has long been dominated by just one major World Netball event in a four-year cycle.

“We have to evolve. We have to do things differently and think differently and so I think it’s exciting that something like this could take place.”

While the prospectus includes the introduction of a new tier one competition, the Continental Cup, to be contested as soon as next year by the top-ranked team from each of five World Netball regions – Asia, Oceania, Europe, Americas and Africa – it’s unlikely any new event would get off the ground so quickly.

Prospectus to interested investors and broadcast partners from World Netball, Netball Australia, Netball England and Netball New Zealand. Picture: Supplied

Netball Australia, Netball England and Netball New Zealand would be joint owners of the Continental Cup with the world body.

The game’s three leading nations have partnered with World Netball to take the sport to a new level, capitalising on rising investment and interest in women’s sport and leveraging the more than 23 million netballers in 100 countries across the globe.

Those numbers alone – which are substantially more than the number of women taking part in competitive football worldwide – are staggering and show the hidden potential of netball.

“We do have a real opportunity to be a global powerhouse,” Chatfield said.

“The more the elite, the top, the best players we have all around the world, can play in different ways and in front of different people and different audiences, I just think it’s a no-brainer to give it a go.

“We all know, even just from our insular world of Super Netball, how as soon as people watch it, they love it and they want to be part of it and they want to come to games.

“And once they come to a game, they’re in awe of the athleticism and the speed and the strength of the players and I just feel like that momentum is only going to catch on the more we can showcase it in different ways.”

Chatfield says the popularity of the Super Netball competition sets the example for the global game. Picture: James Worsfold/Getty Images

World Netball is yet to comment publicly on the proposal, although it’s understood nothing in there is set in stone, with the governing body, along with the chairs from Australia, New Zealand and England waiting to gauge interest in the document.

But there are plenty in the sport excited at the innovative thinking involved, knowing the sport cannot afford to sit still in the face of competition from other women’s sports leagues.

“We know now people have the opportunity to watch and be a part of whatever they want to, because there’s so much more visibility, especially in women’s sport,” Chatfield said.

“It’s growing, and it’s only going to get bigger in every sport, every sports looking for their own niche and their own way of showcasing their elite.

“(We can’t) sit back and just expect people to feel the tradition about the World Cup (if it’s held only once every four years).”

There are some concerns though.

Load on players is one, given the proposal includes no official rest period, with the potential for various forms of the sport to run 12 months of the year.

Player workload is a significant concern within the new proposal. Picture: James Worsfold/Getty Images

“The key will be, though – and I’m sure every players’ association will be looking at it once they are privy to (the detail) – is making sure that international calendar aligns but there is also a big chunk of time where those elite players have enough time off each year,” Chatfield said.

“If each of the major or the governing bodies are involved, they that would have to be something that’s high on their priority list.”

As for the argument that it could dilute rights for domestic broadcasters, Chatfield felt the sport had to “take risks”.

“I’m always an optimist and I could be naive but for me, I feel like you’re cultivating an air of exclusivity in it as well, if you do it well,” Chatfield said of new content.

“We have to take some risks to continue to drive our sport.

“I think it’ll be a pretty powerful surge for domestic and global recognition if we can do it well.”

Originally published as Bianca Chatfield: Major changes to world netball’s calendar ‘well overdue’ says Australian Diamonds’ great