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This was published 8 months ago
Netball Australia chief Kelly Ryan resigns, leaves job immediately
By Carla Jaeger
Netball Australia boss Kelly Ryan has resigned, effective immediately, after a tumultuous two-year tenure in the top role that included the loss of $17 million in federal funding, a nasty pay war with players, and the Hancock Prospecting logo saga.
The governing body denied it had any discussions with Ryan before she tendered her resignation on Tuesday, despite the mounting calls for a change in leadership.
Netball Australia CEO Kelly Ryan has resigned on Tuesday, effective immediately. Credit: Getty Images
Ryan said the “timing felt right” after reaching an in-principle pay deal with netballers (the details of which are expected to be finalised in the coming days), and following the Diamonds’ success at the 2022 Commonwealth Games and 2023 Netball World Cup.
Netball Australia chair Wendy Archer denied the board had any knowledge of Ryan’s decision to resign during a press conference on Tuesday afternoon, and pleaded with fans to continue to support the embattled sport.
“This was purely Kelly’s decision, and as a board, we’ve respected that decision,” Archer said.
Asked what the board is doing to fix its damaged relationships with stakeholders, Archer said it was working to “have better relationships with everybody”.
Improving these relationships, said Archer, was the sport’s first priority.
Ryan’s resignation comes amid mounting criticism of the governing body’s handling of the sport, which has been plagued by a series of off-court dramas over the past two years.
In a statement, Ryan said: “During my time as CEO I have delivered on the objectives of the board. We overcame the challenges of coronavirus pandemic to continue a national competition through border closures, experienced strong growth in the national competition, grew netball’s already strong participation numbers, and strengthened the games’ finances.”
Netball Australia’s head of performance, Stacey West, has been appointed as interim CEO.
Calls for a change in governance escalated in recent weeks.
On Friday, Diamonds legend Joyce Brown released a petition calling for the immediate change of leadership.
She wrote: “The current leadership has taken our sport to its lowest point. It has fractured the fabric of netball and irreparably damaged relationships. ”
At the time of writing, the petition had more than 4500 signatures. It echoed the sentiment of Australia’s most capped netballer, Liz Ellis, who voiced concerns the relationship between the governing body and players had become “poisoned”.
Archer said while Brown is “very respected”, she disagreed with her statements.
As recently as last week, this masthead revealed its broadcaster, Foxtel, was concerned over the sport’s viewership and believed that Netball Australia did not have a strategic direction to grow the game.
Australian Sports Commission boss Kieren Perkins was scathing of the sport’s handling of a proposal to receive $17 million in federal funding, telling this masthead the governing body failed to conduct due diligence.
On Tuesday, Archer refused to concede the board had failed in its proposal – even though the sports minister had revoked the money set aside for the sport.
“I don’t agree that we failed. I think that there was a shift perhaps in strategy, and we need to be very clear … on what our strategy is and the outcomes that we’re looking for,” Archer said, adding that the sport was working to put forward a new proposal in the hopes of recouping some of the funds.
When further pressed if the board would take responsibility for the current state of netball, Archer said: “Everybody has to take responsibility. Everybody sitting at the table has played a role in the events of the last little while. I don’t want to focus on what has happened. We need to learn the lessons … to heal our sport.”
She added that the lessons learnt from the series of problems were “probably better communication amongst each other and probably more regular communication”.
Asked what she would say to fans who feel let down by Netball Australia’s leadership, she said: “I would say to them, with all of my heart, that I love this sport. As do all of the people who have been involved over the last little while … I would ask everybody to continue to support the sport … we all need to work together to heal.”
The board will discuss changes in directors at an upcoming meeting, and again at the sport’s AGM early next year. There is a vacant position following the departure of Jane Seawright, who resigned from the board in October. It is not known if other directors will stand down.
Archer said Ryan’s tenure would be characterised by her leading the sport through COVID, improving netball’s financial situation and growing participation at the community level. Though she conceded that not all would remember the netball boss for those achievements.
The former AFL executive was appointed to the job in 2021. Before taking over netball, she held several positions in football, including as the Western Bulldogs’ chief financial officer and fronting the redevelopment of AFL-owned Marvel Stadium.
During her tenure, Ryan successfully pulled the sport out of two years of multimillion-dollar losses, announcing a $300,000 profit in May. However, Netball Australia remains more than $4 million in debt and has extended its long-term loans to 2025 as it aims to reset its finances.
Ryan did not respond when contacted.
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