Introduction
In the below entry I look at a number of netball related stories.
December Netball Notes
England Win FastNet
England have broken Australasia’s stronghold on world netball titles, yesterday defeating New Zealand in the final of the World Fastnet Series in Liverpool.
In a sport that can throw up monotonous offerings at international level, with Australia and New Zealand dominating the world scene, England proved popular winners of the Fastnet crown.
While the three-day tournament is not seen as a top-tier event, England’s win is significant considering it has been more than 30 years since a country from outside New Zealand and Australia has won an IFNA tournament.
The last time was 1979, when the world championships were shared between the two transtasman nations and Trinidad & Tobago.
Winners of the first two world series titles, the Fastnet Ferns were gunning for a hat-trick in yesterday’s final. But their bid effectively ended during a rampant third-quarter from England, with the hosts making the most of their powerplay, outscoring New Zealand 16-8 to bolt out to a seven-point lead.
With the games played over six-minute quarters, New Zealand were forced to throw caution to the wind in the final quarter as they tried to engineer a comeback.
New Zealand to Host FastNet
There was no free to air TV coverage of FastNet in New Zealand. I don’t know why New Zealand bothered to send such a strong side to the tournament. Last years side won the tournament would have been fine. Last year side won the daft tournament and they would have had more experience with the concept then this year squad.
World Netball Series, the thrilling showcase competition for the world’s most important women’s team sport, will be coming to Auckland, New Zealand, in November 2012. The International Federation of Netball Associations (IFNA) today announced that Netball New Zealand has been awarded the right to host the three-day competition from 9-11 November. The tournament will take place at the superb Vector Arena in Auckland.
So there is enough fans of pointless net for Netball New Zealand to be keen to host it. Myself I would have rather Netball New Zealand lobbied INFA for more important items on the agenda. One such item in my book would be to ensure that the best rather then neutral
umpires take charge of International’s. So you can all stop complaining about neutral umpires now because pointless net has made it to the Southern Hemisphere.Southern TeamCo chairwoman Janet Copeland Concern at the ANZ Championship Financial Model
Southern TeamCo chairwoman Janet Copeland has expressed concerns about the trans-Tasman netball league’s financial model.
The Southland Times can reveal Steel suffered a $45,000 loss during the 2010 financial year and they are expected to post a worse result for their 2011 financial year, which finished yesterday.
Copeland did not want to provide a figure for this year until it was confirmed, but acknowledged it would be “substantially more” than last year and said it was “not where they want to be”.
During the past year, Steel had also gone to the Community Trust of Southland for an additional $100,000 grant which had been turned down.
The global financial crisis had impacted heavily on the way Steel had been able to do business this year and Copeland said most professional sporting franchises in New Zealand were battling to increase revenue and sponsorship in the present economic climate.
Copeland also hit out at the financial model of the ANZ Championship, which she said was not working, with almost all of the five New Zealand franchises struggling financially.
This is going to be a story to watch. I still maintain that at the creation of the ANZ Championship, Netball New Zealand sold out to pay TV for to little. Now it is to soon for me to say ” I told you so.” Before I can say that the effects of Netball New Zealand Structural Overhaul need to be seen, if it goes ahead. In the mean time consider this if Netball New Zealand had gotten a good enough deal from pay TV should there not be enough money to keep, Kiwi ANZ Championship teams afloat?
Not to mention there be enough money to ensure the ANZ Championship umpires get paid?To stay afloat Kiwi ANZ Championship sides are going to have to put a bigger then normal focus on recruiting the best sport/private sector manages. Innovation and thinking outside of the square will be key to the survival of any business sporting or otherwise this decade.
