Swifts and Diamonds legend Liz Ellis AO has been elected the new Chair of the Netball Australia Board.
The nine-member Board met today and voted for Ms Ellis 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.
“It is a huge privilege to lead this great sport 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 and lock in financial sustainability for the future. 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 matches 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 Origin Australian 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.’’
Ellis was a member of the national team from 1993 until 2007, including the last four years as Captain of the Diamonds. She is the most capped Diamond, and is a member of the Netball Australia Hall of Fame, the Sports Australia Hall of Fame and is a Legend in the NSW Netball Hall of Fame.
Ellis played in the 1995, 1999, 2003 and 2007 World Championships and the 1998 and 2002 Commonwealth Games. She was named Australian Netball's Most Valued Player on four occasions – 1996, 1998, 2002 and 2006.
She became captain of the Sydney Swifts (now NSW Swifts) in 2000 and captained the Club to the 2001, 2004, 2006 and 2007 Premierships.
