Diamonds to dominate, Super Netball expansion, among keys in Netball Australia’s 10-year plan
Netball Australia is set to take the first significant steps to turn the sport into a commercial powerhouse, expanding Super Netball and taking on the Matildas as Australia’s favourite women’s team.
Netball Australia will commit to significant debt to fund an ambitious plan to expand Super Netball and transform the sport into a cultural and commercial powerhouse.
NA’s patron, Governor-General Sam Mostyn, will today launch the sport’s 10-year strategy - Made in Netball - at Admiralty House in Sydney.
As revealed by Code Sports earlier this year, NA will make a bold play to double its community to 2 million and position the Diamonds to be the most recognised national women’s national team in Australia over a green-and-gold decade the sport hopes will include an Olympic debut.
The expansion of Super Netball is also an ambition, with hopes that plans - whether for 2027 or beyond - can be announced by early next year.
But significant funds are needed to bridge the divide between ambitious hyperbole and achieved priorities, with NA to seek $10 million in debt from investors to help achieve its goals.
NA chair Liz Ellis confirmed the expansion of Super Netball was a goal and one of many things that would cost significant money, meaning debt capital was necessary.
“We know that we’ve got to invest in resources in order to grow it,” Ellis told Code Sports.
“Netball has always been a sport that has had big sport aspirations and a medium size sport budget.
“One of the things that we’re looking very closely at obviously is expansion of the (Super Netball) league but again there’s a cost that comes with that.”
For a sport that was in a perilous financial position just three years ago, taking on more debt could be seen as disastrous.
But private equity is not an option for a national sporting organisation with a not-for-profit status and Ellis said there had been much thought and discussion around the strategy.
“You never take debt on lightly, it’s been something that the board has thought long and hard about,” she said.
“And you absolutely need the system to be lock step in order to be able to do that and we’re still talking to people about how it’s going to work, what it means and how will affect what Netball Australia will do.
“And I hope what it does, is actually allows us to invest in the places that we need to invest to get some really good commercial returns to build some really good commercial assets and great partnerships and that’s what the next four to five years is really critical to do.”
The long-awaited strategic plan outlines several key priorities, including:
* To have a playing/non-playing community of 2 million people by 2035.
* To make the Diamonds the most recognised national female team in Australia and achieve the world no.1 ranking.
* To have Super Netball as Australia’s most popular women’s sports league and the world’s most followed netball league.
* Netball in Australia to achieve recognition as the gold standard of sports administration through operational excellence.
* The creation of a framework that increases the participation and success of First Nations participants in our systems, creating a legacy that is wider than netball.
* The development of a data strategy to grow and support the game and its fan base.
Netball Australia CEO Stacey West said the strategy set out key goals to secure the sport’s long-term resilience and prosperity.
“Our purpose over the next decade is to ensure netball is not only the sport of choice for women and girls, and a powerful force for connection, inclusion and excellence,” West said.
“This strategy focuses on exactly that task. It outlines how we will elevate every aspect of the game, from grassroots to elite, from local courts to national conversations, so that netball continues to thrive in every community, and attract new participants and partners.”
Ellis said the road map had been drawn with consultation with the entire netball ecosystem to ensure it reflects the needs of all in the game.
“We thought that we needed to really map out what things could look like over the next decade to give some confidence to both our internal and our external stakeholders, the investors and partners and sponsors, that we had a really clear plan for where we wanted to get to and then we were able to put in place a strategy that helped us get there,” Ellis said.
“I think it’s incredibly important to be ambitious and to be really clear about what that ambition looks like.”
More Coverage
Originally published as Diamonds to dominate, Super Netball expansion, among keys in Netball Australia’s 10-year plan
Vixens lock in ex-AFLW ruck after breakout campaign
