Diamonds’ great Liz Ellis has gone from joining the Netball Australia board to being its chair

What a difference the space of a month, even a fortnight makes, in the world of netball, with Liz Ellis elected to chair the Netball Australia board.

Liz Ellis is now chair of the Netball Australia board. Picture: Jason O'Brien/Getty Images

Liz Ellis AO has been elected the new Chair of the Netball Australia Board just a little more than a fortnight after she was appointed. 

The nine-member Board met on Friday and voted for the Diamonds’ legend to succeed Wendy Archer AM who announced she was stepping down as Chair earlier this year. Archer remains a Board Director.

Ellis thanked the Board for their endorsement and said she was fully committed to the growth agenda being led by recently appointed CEO Stacey West.

From joining the board to within days now the chair. Picture: Graham Denholm/Getty Images

“It is a huge privilege to lead this great sport of netball which has given me so much in my life and which plays such an important role in the lives of millions of girls and young women,’’ said Ellis, who was appointed as a Netball Australia Board Director last month.

“I am looking forward to working closely with our passionate and experienced Board and everyone at Netball Australia to ensure that netball continues to inspire the future generation of players and fans.’’

“I particularly want to thank Wendy Archer for her leadership of the Board and the sport.’’

Ellis, who chaired the sport’s State of the Game review, said the Board’s priorities were to continue to build on the strong financial growth the sport has achieved in recent years. Netball Australia this week announced its second surplus in two years. 

“Netball is in a healthy position. We’re seeing record crowds at Suncorp Super Netball and growing broadcast audiences this season at the same time as revenue from our commercial partners is growing. Fans are more engaged than ever which is great to see, but we will all work hard to do even better,’’ Ms Ellis said.

“This is an exciting time to be part of netball in this country. Our Diamonds are the best in the world, we have the best elite competition in the world, we have more than one million participants and we are hosting the Netball World Cup in 2027, which is also the centenary of our sport.

“We have challenges that we will meet head-on, but everyone in the sport from the Board to the clubs, to the players and the fans are united and that opens up opportunities to do amazing things together.’’

Originally published as Diamonds’ great Liz Ellis has gone from joining the Netball Australia board to being its chair