Ninety-fifth Annual Report 2019 We live this game. Netball New Zealand Annual Report 2019 3 Contents 5 .......... Board Chair and Chief Executive Report 50 ....... Beko Netball League 12 ....... Key Statistics 52 ....... Netball Super Club 13 ....... Netball New Zealand Board and Staff 54 ....... Domestic Events 14 ....... President’s Report Fuji Xerox NZ Secondary Schools Netball Champs 16 ....... Tania Dalton Foundation Netball NZ U19 Champs 18 ....... The Zones brought to you by NZ Police Netball Northern Netball NZ U17 Champs Netball Waikato Bay of Plenty Netball Central 60 ....... Community Netball Mainland 68 ....... Pacific Sporting Partnership Netball South 70 ....... 2019 New Zealand Netball Awards 24 ....... Commercial 72 ....... Monica Leggat 28 ....... Silver Ferns ....... Life Members PURE Joy 74 1979 Silver Ferns Reunion 75 ....... Service Awards 38 ....... National Squads and Teams 78 ....... Whole of Netball Plan 40 ....... Events Overview 82 ....... The Netball System 44 ....... ANZ Premiership 84 ....... Financials Photography: Michael Bradley Photography, mbphoto.co.nz 95th Annual Report and Financial Statements for the 12 months 1 December 2018 to 30 November 2019. The Annual Report and these Financial Statements will be presented to the 93rd Council Meeting of Netball New Zealand to be held in Christchurch on Saturday 22 February 2020. We live this game. Netball New Zealand Annual Report 2019 5 With the Netball World Cup taking place, 2019 was a pinnacle The year 2019 proved to be event year, which was underpinned by a number of key changes culminating in a massive shift for the sport. On the a defining one for Netball, back of some tough times, brave decisions were made and Netball emerged in strong shape, spirit and heart from an with change at the centre, inspiring, eventful and action-packed 12 months. providing an afterglow of The Silver Ferns rode a growing wave of support during their campaign to the Netball World Cup title, moving from fourth positivity across the Netball to second in the world rankings in the process. Interest in the ANZ Premiership grew to new levels, Netball continued to flourish at community level and new initiatives were community. introduced that focused on youth/rangatahi. All aspects of the game hit new marks with community and grassroots levels maintaining the strong foundation for future success alongside the indomitable spirit and support delivered by the wider Netball community. Jennie Wyllie (left), Netball NZ Chief Executive, and Allison Ferguson (right), Netball NZ Board Chair, at the 2019 New Zealand Netball Awards We live this game. Netball New Zealand Annual Report 2019 7 Our Mother Earth futureFERNS programme continues to be COMMUNITY Grow a strong presence in providing that first positive touch of In respect to community, 2019 has been an equally Netball New Zealand was delighted to celebrate and Netball. It’s heartening to see such a good uptake from boys productive year. One of the most significant factors was a acknowledge the enormous contribution made by its loyal and and girls in this space, and it remains a real foundation- review of our competition structure, based on feedback from dedicated volunteers this year. They are an intrinsic part of setting piece for our sport. our members at Council, for the 2020 year. the Netballing landscape and are key contributors in ensuring NetballSmart, supported by ACC, is an area that has gone the game runs smoothly at all levels. Five recipients from After listening to our community and its changing from strength to strength. Globally, we are leading the way in the Netball community were acknowledged at the NZ Netball demographic, NNZ will implement two new tournaments integrating our injury prevention tools into the way Netball is Awards. in 2020: Netball NZ Open Champs and a Netball NZ U18 delivered by coaches and volunteers. Champs. These will replace the U19 and U17 national In partnership with Cadbury, we have launched our Volunteer Led by NetballSmart Programmes Manager Sharon Kearney, tournaments and offer more opportunity for players at the Strategy 2020–2022. This strategy acknowledges that our there has been a strong emphasis on studying all aspects of competitive level. sport drives off the back of volunteers within New Zealand in Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injuries. This has highlighted so many different places. Our volunteers are a vital part of our Sport NZ has partnered with the five highest-participation the prevalence of ACL injuries in women playing Netball, from game, and it’s fantastic to be able to look at tools that can be NSOs to launch the Balance is Better initiative, which the elite level right down into the teenage space. implemented to recognise their value. focuses on ensuring young people are given a positive Because of Sharon’s expertise, Netball is focusing on the experience in sport. With support from Cadbury, over 500,000 bars of chocolate right areas where ongoing prevention strategies are playing were distributed to Netball Centres during 2019 as a a leading role in reducing the incidence of this type of injury. small tribute to acknowledge the countless hours of work It is the first time all of these Recent data revealed a 13 percent decrease in ACC-recorded volunteers put in behind the scenes. ACL Netball related injuries between 2016–2019. sports (Netball, rugby, cricket, The Youth Strategy remained a key focus in 2019, with football, hockey) have got Through 2019, Netball remained the number-one sport at Netball at the forefront of engaging with youth in their secondary school level across all codes. together and formulated a community, the emphasis being on how they want to be engaged with. common vision of intent. A raft of initiatives is being piloted, all centred on providing The Voice of the Participant survey measures the ‘sentiment relevant opportunities for youth to participate in our game. of experience’ at local level Centres, and we’ve seen improvement in results, which is fantastic. It’s off the back NNZ was successful in the Sport New Zealand funding round of focusing on areas that we can impact and shows our for the Women and Girls initiative, which looks at opportunities willingness to understand how people want to engage with us that accelerate participation of youth. The funding has been at a Centre level. Our results are encouraging and show some secured for the FAST5 version of this initiative which will be strong movement in alignment across the system. Centre-based and aimed at 12 to 18-year-olds. Launched in 2017, the Pacific Sporting Partnership (PSP), We were really excited to be selected from just a few other a joint NNZ and New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and National Sports Organisations (NSOs) to deliver in this space, Trade (MFAT) initiative, continues to make a significant and we will continue to have a focus on the areas that Netball impact. thinks are a priority as well. The five-year programme works with Netball associations Netball joined the Halberg Games this year, thanks to an and schools in Fiji, the Cook Islands, Samoa and Tonga, with enterprising initiative undertaken by Auckland Netball. the aim of increasing the participation of young people in Netball while also raising awareness of healthy lifestyles. The Halberg Games is an annual three-day sports competition open to 8 to 21-year-olds who have a physical or visual It has been rewarding for us to be able to support this impairment. The Games, hosted by the Halberg Foundation, programme with leading figures from our Netball community, provide the opportunity for athletes to have fun, enjoy some such as Waimarama Taumaunu, Jodi Brown, Irene van Dyk competition and make new friends. and Maria Folau, adding their expertise to help deliver and support this project to the ever-growing number of Netball With further developments in the pipeline for participants with players in the Pacific. physical or visual impairments, we would like to acknowledge Auckland Netball for making this come to life. We live this game. Netball New Zealand Annual Report 2019 9 In celebrating the first-ever televised games between Connect women’s and men’s national teams, the brave decision set the There were encouraging signs in 2019 of Netball’s rising brand tone in a defining moment for the sport. It highlighted what identity when the brand equity results were released just prior the men and their association bring to the table with their to the Netball World Cup (as shown here): support of the Silver Ferns and their willingness to pitch in and help with their preparations ahead of the Netball World Cup. NNZ: 65% (increase from 16%) These games provided an amazing spectacle for our fans. Netball: 43% (increase from 19%) From the keenly contested match-ups, the men instilled a belief in the Silver Ferns that they could jump higher, run ANZ Premiership: 31% faster and be stronger athletes, while endorsing the inclusive (increase from 14%) nature of Netball as a game for everyone. With many of those involved in the men’s game attending the There was no fear about the end result, the Silver Ferns end-of-season New Zealand Netball Awards, it was heartening rounding out their preparation with the most ideal of to see that the bonds and closeness forged during the New opponents; the men providing the perfect stage to absorb and Zealand Men’s Invitational team’s historic participation in the adjust to situations that were likely to surface at the Netball Cadbury Netball Series have remained tight. Their willingness World Cup. We would like to acknowledge the involvement of to be involved and help in whatever capacity is hugely the NZ Men’s Invitational team for the part they played in this appreciated.