Commission recruiters aim high to lead the world
Netball will launch an immediate search independent commissioners to run the Suncorp Super Netball competition.
Netball will launch an immediate search for business leaders and identities for new roles as the sport breaks ground with the establishment of an independent commission to run the Suncorp Super Netball competition.
The sport wants to have the commission in place by the start of the 2019 Super Netball season in late March and will recruit six independent directors for the seven-person board to run the competition. Netball Australia chief executive Marne Fechner will also join the commission, which has been styled at least in part on the powerful AFL commission, which oversees the country’s most lucrative sport.
Fechner described the commission as a turning point for the sport and said commission members would be targeted for their expertise in growing the commercial side of netball.
“The vision for Suncorp Super Netball is to be the top sporting league for women worldwide, and to achieve that we need to put the necessary structures and resources in place,” she said.
“We believe the commission will provide a more focused and streamlined operating model that will fast-track growth.”
Super Netball will remain wholly owned by Netball Australia, but the commission will be given the powers to self-govern and lead its own operations.
Netball Australia will appoint five directors, one of whom is Fechner, and the commission will appoint another two.
Netball will launch the process to find commissioners with a public revelation of the move today, and will aim to close its search by February 22, led by executive general manager of events Chris Symington. Ideally, the commission would comprise at least four females and at most three males.
Symington said the sport would target candidates with media, marketing, broadcast and digital expertise and hoped that at least one successful applicant would be a former player.
“We would certainly like to have an ex-player who has the relevant skill set. But overall we are confident of finding the right people based on the conversations we have been having out there in the marketplace already.
“There is a lot of interest and that has given us the confidence to go ahead. It has been an 18-month process to get to this stage and we think it is a unique model.”
Fechner said the Super Netball clubs, owned by a mixture of state federations and either AFL or NRL clubs, supported the move and that she hoped it would mean the league’s popularity grew even more this year.
“We’ve had two years of Super Netball and it was good to get growth in the second year.
“The first year is always big because it was something new and exciting. But we got good numbers again and from what I have seen of the team rosters it will be another exciting year with more international players.
League-wide attendance was up 13 per cent in 2018, and television viewership rose by 26 per cent thanks in large part to a shift to broadcasts on Nine Entertainment’s main channel.
The 2019 season will also feature a four-week break for the World Cup in Liverpool, England in July.
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