Netball NSW and the NSW Swifts today welcome the findings of Netball Australia’s State of the Game Review and agree in principle with the recommendations which have been put forward.
The organisation and club will consult with stakeholders on the detailed recommendations which are listed below:
- Strategic system alignment
- Governance reform
- State led participation growth
- Fully integrated performance pathways for athletes, coaches and umpires leading into the Origin Diamonds
- Suncorp Super Netball as the vehicle to drive commercial growth for netball
- System wide operational efficiencies
- National digital strategy
- Implementation resources
The State of the Game Review Panel was led by former Diamonds and Swifts captain Liz Ellis and also included Australian Sex Discrimination Commissioner Kate Jenkins, non-executive director and former MP Wendy Machin and experienced media executive Joe Pollard, and was supported by Sport Australia.
Netball NSW and the Swifts will be joined by fellow state and territory-based member organisations, Suncorp Super Netball Clubs, the Australian Netball Players’ Association and the Confident Girls Foundation in working towards an exciting path forward for the game post COVID-19.
The recommendations come after Netball Australia commissioned the largest-ever independent review into the sport to inform and promote improved strategies for growth, culture, leadership, governance, integration and sustainability.
Over 10,000 stakeholders in Australian netball took part and the full findings of the review can be read HERE.
Netball NSW President Louise Sullivan thanked the Review Panel for their work and the community for their feedback.
“This is a huge body of work which looks to capitalise on Netball’s strong foundations and continue to evolve the growth of the sport at all levels," she said. "I would like to thank everyone who took part not just here in NSW but around the country.
“While there is still a lot of work to do when it comes to how each of the recommendations may be implemented, and how they will fit into the diverse netball communities in each state, in principle we are supportive of the wider reform the review hopes to achieve.
“It is our belief that the sub-recommendations, which sit below the eight over-arching recommendations, will require further work and consultation with stakeholders before the implementation phase can begin and we look forward to working collaboratively on this in due course.”
As recommended within the report, in early 2021 Netball Australia will appoint a resource in charge of managing the implementation of the recommendations across the broader netball system.
