1,000 signatures reached
To: Netball Australia Board
\Immediate change in Netball Australia’s leadership to heal and grow netball
To: Netball Australia Board
Wendy Archer AM (Chair), Marina Go AM, Peter Legg, Todd Deacon, John O’Sullivan, Gabbi Stubbs, Mo’onia Gerrard, Cheryl Kickett-Tucker AM
From Joyce Brown OAM
We call for immediate change in Netball Australia’s leadership to heal and grow netball, one of Australia’s oldest and proudest sports.
Netball Australia’s leadership must be accountable for the following:
* needless yearlong dispute with its Super Netball Players, which saw the Super Netball playing cohort go unpaid for over two months;
* losing almost $18 million of Federal Government funding, having failed to submit a proposal that met the necessary Australian Sports Commission standards. Netball Australia had over two years to develop this proposal yet failed to meet the requirements.
*making the announcement of the Diamonds team for the 2023 World Cup contingent on players signing the Diamonds Collective Player Agreement;
* pretending to consult stakeholders about the location of the 2022 Super Netball Grand Final, when the deal had already been done;
* overseeing the withdrawal of one of Australia’s most prestigious sporting clubs, Collingwood, from Suncorp Super Netball, having failed to provide a sufficient vision for the future of the sport;
* jeopardising a $15 million sponsorship from Hancock Prospecting, and then letting the players take the blame; and
* threatening Diamonds players with legal action if they did not attend the Australian Netball Awards.
These failures are destroying our sport’s reputation and have taken a huge toll on the sport’s finances and future.
Australian Netball needs new leadership now.
Why is this important?
Netball is cherished in the hearts of Australians.
Arguably our most consistently successful national sports team, the Diamonds have been a source of national pride over many decades.
Even more than this, Netball, the sport and its players, have provided places, communities and people who have supported, developed and showcased literally millions of strong independent women for almost 100 years.
The current leadership has taken our sport to its lowest point. It has fractured the fabric of netball and irreparably damaged relationships.
In the lead up to Australian Netball’s centenary in 2027, the sport deserves better.
Joyce Brown OAM
World Champion Diamonds Captain
3 x World Champion Diamonds Coach
Sport Australia Hall of Fame Inductee