ONE of netball’s greatest strengths is the passion and loyalty of its fans.
It’s something that I, as Chair of the Suncorp Super Netball Commission, appreciate every time I go to a game to witness some of the world’s best female athletes in action.
The game needs more fans like you; more passionate and committed viewers and club members.
And that’s why we yesterday introduced the two-goal Super Shot for the 2020 season.
We knew that the decision would create media and public interest as well as fierce debate and argument at all levels of the game and that’s exactly what has happened in the last 24 hours.
But we welcome the debate because we want people to be talking about our sport, and the sporting world to see your passion, to understand that this is a game that inspires and motivates. Most of all, we want a broader base of sports fans to consider Suncorp Super Netball as a sport to watch.
We believe the Super Shot will bring new fans to the game which in turn will enable us to shine the spotlight on our amazing female athletes and their skill. It is an initiative to get the sporting public who ignore our sport today to reconsider.
Every person who connects to our game contributes to our ability to drive more revenue which in turn brings us closer to our major purpose of ensuring pay equity between females and males who play professional sport.
The two-goal shot is not a new idea. It has been discussed for many years. The plan was to implement the two-goal shot for next year, but the commission encouraged the executive team to bring it forward because we don’t want to waste another year where we are a step behind where we could be.
The Super Netball Commission was created to drive innovation, to challenge and to see how far we can take our sport. The introduction of the Super Shot is consistent with this mandate and we feel very strongly that it could attract a broader base of sports fans.
When I watched the Suncorp Super Netball All-stars v Origin Diamonds game earlier this year my heart was in my mouth during the last five minutes of each quarter. The excitement levels in the stadium were overwhelming. The Super Shot will be implemented with the same rules that played out in that game.
We are operating in a fast-moving sports environment where many sports are making innovative changes to their rules to increase the entertainment value of their game in order to position themselves for greater revenue opportunities. We have to be agile enough as a league to do the same.
To stand still is to go backwards and while we acknowledge this is a difficult change for many, there are also players and coaches who are excited by the possibilities the Super Shot will offer.
For those who don’t like this change, we hear you. But we also hope that with a greater understanding of why we have acted, you will come to see that this is a move that supports our bigger purpose; a purpose that sets our league and our athletes on a rapid journey to equality between female and male professional sports.
