The NSW Swifts will once again don their famous yellow uniform as part of celebrations to mark the club’s 25th Anniversary.
The six-time Premiers, who started out as the Sydney Swifts and went under that name from 1997-2007 before rebranding as the NSW Swifts in 2008, wore the iconic colour for the club’s first 11 years.
From 1997-2007 they competed in the Commonwealth Bank Trophy (CBT), Australia’s first elite National Netball League, winning four Premierships (2001, 2004, 2006, 2007) before claiming the inaugural ANZ Championship which replaced the CBT in 2008.
With the Swifts the only team to claim Premierships in each variation of the National League competition - they claimed the Suncorp Super Netball title in 2019 - Head Coach Briony Akle said honouring the achievements of the club’s first decade was imperative.
“It was the likes of Liz Ellis, Cath Cox, Megan Anderson, Ali Broadbent and Selina Gilsenan, who put the Swifts on the sporting map,” she said.
“Players like Liz didn’t just stand up for netball, but for all of women in sport as it was very hard for female athletes to get any kind of coverage back then.
“But Liz and the Swifts team of that era along with coach Julie Fitzgerald brought a standard of excellence and success to New South Wales that meant they couldn’t be ignored.
“They even went undefeated in the entire 2006 competition and did a three-peat from there. Four of our six Premierships were won in the yellow dress so wearing it this year was a no-brainer and I think it’s something we should do every year from here on.”
The Swifts will don the heritage dress, produced by merchandise partners Valour Sport, in the Round 12 Derby clash against the Giants at Ken Rosewall Arena. The dress will be the centre-piece of an Alumni Round celebration which will look to honour the 98 players who have donned a Swifts dress in the 25 years of the club.
Ellis, who captained the club to four titles, said seeing the Swifts in yellow again would be a very special moment.
“Any Swifts dress you get to wear is special but the yellow really is a part of my heart,” she said via video-link at the club’s season launch.
“When I was told the Swifts would be wearing yellow again I got quite emotional because that dress means so much to me and the women who played in it.
“I see a lot of parallels between this current Swifts team and the side we had back in the day, because we really got on well off the court as well as on it.
“We won a title when no-one tipped us to, just like this current generation and I know they have their eyes set on a similar legacy.”
The Swifts start their 2021 Suncorp Super Netball campaign in Brisbane on Sunday 2 May against the Queensland Firebirds.
