Executive Summary Background

Australia and New Zealand have traditionally dominated world . The key benchmark events (BME) are World Cup, Commonwealth Games and Youth World Cup. Since 2000, the two countries have won 14 of the 15 BMEs, with England only once breaking their dominance with a nail-biting win over at the Commonwealth Games on the Gold Coast in 2018. The 2016-2019 cycle is the first time that Australia has not held any BME titles. Australia and New Zealand still dominate, but other countries are becoming more competitive, with England at the fore, followed by Jamaica, South Africa and others producing world class athletes.

Success demands that every aspect of ’s (NA) business is regularly and systematically reviewed with key learnings driving a focus on continuous improvement and the constant pursuit of excellence in everything that is done on and off the court.

Following the completion of the 2019 Netball World Cup NA commissioned, in partnership with the AIS, an independent consultant to lead an analysis of the entire netball high performance system and programs as we look to plan ahead towards Birmingham in 2022 and Cape Town in 2023.

Peter Sharpe was appointed to lead the review. Peter has a long history in working in high performance sport in his previous roles at the AIS and he has also led previous projects reviewing NA’s high-performance programs.

NA also appointed an expert Advisory Group to help oversee the project. This panel included representatives from NA, MOs, SSN franchises, athletes, the AIS and two independents from outside netball with expertise in high performance.

Netball Australia Representatives Paolina Hunt Chair Marne Fechner CEO Andrew Collins EGM Performance Stacey West GM Performance and Pathways SSSN Representative Chris Symington CEO SSN

AIS Representatives Alex Newton Director, Sport Strategy and Investment Chris O’Brien Sport Strategy and Investment

MO/SSN Club Representative Nikki Horton GM NSW Swifts

Independent Representatives Bill Daveron National Pathways Manager Troy Ayres A/G Executive Director Academy of Sport Former Diamonds Captain

The objectives of the Review were: 1. To review the current NA high performance system identifying strengths, gaps, the barriers to and enablers/drivers of future success 2. To identify the key strategic shifts required for the development of the next four-year HP strategy for the 2020-2023 period.

The review findings and recommendations were informed from three sources: • an on-line survey sent to NA HP staff as well as all MOs and SSN clubs; there were 29 respondents • an extensive desk top audit process reviewing previous reviews and reports, policy documents, strategic planning documentation and numerous domestic and international websites • face to face interviews with 52 stakeholders, and a further five interviews by phone/teleconference; these involved CEOs, coaches and high performance staff at NA, Member Organisations and every SSN Club, current athletes and the Australian Netball Players Association. In addition, staff at state institutes and academies of sport as well as a number of performance staff at the AIS were consulted.

Findings, assumptions and draft recommendations were tested through two workshops with the Advisory Group. Findings

The review identified seven priority areas that have a major impact on the success of a high performance system. The thrust of the recommendations is evolutionary rather than revolutionary. The report found that is in good shape, but that there are signs that suggest a refocussing in strategic areas of high performance is needed to maintain that health and improve it further.

Key findings

1. Most stakeholders believe that netball can achieve its twin objectives 2. NA needs to sharpen its focus on the Origin Energy Diamonds winning when it matters most 3. A mix of incentives and regulation is needed to ensure that SSN does not thrive at the expense of Diamond’s success 4. Australian Netball League is an expensive product with compromised outcomes 5. Gaps in the pathway for elite athletes from age 20 years need to be addressed with ongoing national program support, not short term and ad hoc campaigns 6. Australia needs high performance coach education and professional development to be brought up to date, requiring increased investment from NA 7. Communication and planning can be much enhanced, especially between NA and SSN coaches and administrators

Netball Australia’s twin objectives

For many years Netball Australia has had the twin goals of being the best team in the world and having the best domestic netball league in the world. In 2016 this latter goal was elevated to best women’s league in the world (of any sport). In only its third year, (SSN) has been highly successful. It is recognised however, that SSN has absorbed significant resources from other areas of the netball business to ensure the success and sustainability of SSN and its franchises.

Suncorp Super Netball league

SSN is a two-edged sword. It has brought significant benefits for athletes and coaches, for promotion of the Netball Australia brand, and the game itself.

”Suncorp Super Netball has raised the standard of the domestic competition, and the athleticism and speed of the athletes. But it has also made the task of the national team and its coaches more challenging”.

Modifications to the rules which apply to benchmark events have made the spectacle more exciting and entertaining, but place different physical demands on athletes, and different competition preparation requirements for the athletes and national coaches. The scheduling of SSN and international competitions can cause clashes, placing further strain on athletes.

Recommendations

The review noted a number of highly visible challenges for netball, including the challenge to maintain Australia’s number one world ranking and winning Commonwealth Games and World Cups. With SSN providing an integral step in the competition pathway for aspiring Diamonds, a significant element of this challenge is the current domination of key end-court positions by international athletes in SSN. To address this domination, the report has made recommendations to:

• Increase the contracted squad size of SSN teams from 10 to 12 • Introduce incentives and regulation to increase court time for Australia athletes in the SSN • Enhance the netball pathway competition structure, including replacing the Australian Netball League with a National 23s Championships. The impact of international athletes in A key challenge for the sport is to the SSN generated considerable ensure that the achievement of the best discussion throughout the development of the final report. The principal concern women’s league in the world does not was the difficulty for Australian athletes come at the cost of the best netball to gain court time, especially in the end- team in the world, nor the commitment court positions, and more particularly of the organisations to the core the Goal Shooter position. Many respondents favoured limiting the responsibilities of governing bodies to number of internationals that can be their members. contracted to SSN teams. An alternative approach was not to limit the total number of imports, but to limit the number who play at any one time in key positions on the court. Limiting the number of imports who can play in end-court positions at the same time has the advantage of allowing teams the freedom to recruit as many internationals as they wish. The challenge is the increased complexity in decision making for the SSN coach, and potentially managing the reduced playing time for internationals who could be benched while their position is being taken on court by an Australian.

19 of the 23 international athletes are contracted to SSN teams to play in end-court positions. The option to restrict the total number of imports means that the only way to ensure end-court time for Australian athletes is to limit each team to one import (i.e. it is felt that restrictions of 2-3 per team would have little impact on solving the problem). Even then, imports could dominate the Goal Shooter position, where currently only one team has an Australian in the starting seven line-up as a Goal Shooter. A reduction from 23 of the best players in the world to only eight would significantly reduce the quality and entertainment value of the league. Given the objective of making the SSN the premier women’s league in the world, and that this would option significantly compromise that objective, it has not been recommended by the report.

Beneath the observable challenges, the report has noted challenges and gaps in the systems that underpin international success. It has identified a number of opportunities to strengthen the progression of athletes through the development pathway, to enhance high performance coach development, and improve communication between NA and stakeholders in the high performance system.

There are 43 recommendations in the report. It has proposed a number of key strategic shifts, which may be summarised by these four headline recommendations:

Recommendation 7: NA should enhance its investment in the high performance athlete pathway and coach development

Recommendation 8: NA should realign the domestic competition pathway to ensure a clear progression to SSN and international competition level

Recommendation 9: NA high performance leadership should engage in earlier, more collaborative, ongoing and strategic communication with SSN coaches

Recommendation 10: Where possible, NA should seek to influence the future direction of the SSN competition, in ways that complement international success, by providing incentives, rather than regulation or sanctions

Implementation of the Review Findings

Although the recommendations in this review are grouped under a number of different headings, many are interconnected, and lend themselves to be considered in clusters, rather than in isolation. The report provides a detailed analysis of potential costs and interdependencies, including impacts on the system as a whole, on MOs, and on Netball Australia.

It also provides a potential timeframe for implementation of the recommendations. In agreement with the NA Board, the review did not consider the impacts of the COVID 19 pandemic. The NA Board and SSN Commission will need to consider these recommendations in the broader context of netball’s overall responsibilities and operations.

There is much to be proud of at NA and we will be looking to leverage these strengths as well as benchmark possible areas for improvement from a range of other international and cross-sport programs. The sport has changed significantly in recent years and continues to evolve at a rapid rate. NA need to ensure we remain at the forefront of world sport and consider all the options. A longer- term strategy and plan for our way forward that supports our performance aspirations and recognises our individual context in the Australian sporting landscape will be critical.