As we reach the end of another successful year it is time for us all in the Netball Family, to come together and reflect on the enormous contribution of each and every netball volunteer and those professional staff members who give so much of their time, energy and experience to our sport. We should all take time out to celebrate the growth we have seen, the incredible play we have witnessed and feel proud for all those that we have inspired to get involved in our sport.
We started 2024 by launching our new Rules of Netball on the 1st January. The new rules saw us say goodbye to the toss-up, and welcome tactical changes, as well as making further safety focused changes to our game.
This launch included the update of our Rules of Netball app, as well as a collaboration with NETFIT NZ to create new resources including PDFs and videos, as well as 40-day social media campaign to educate and drive awareness on the new rules.
The campaign was a real success, with the 149 pieces of content created for social media channels generating a reach of 4.1 million during the campaign period, with World Netball (WN) gaining just under 17,000 followers across all its social media channels. The biggest increase could be seen on our newly launched TikTok where our following increased by 57%.
Our Members worldwide had until September 2024 to implement these rules at a grassroots level, but at the international level they went straight into effect from the 1st January, with the Hong Kong Four Nations series the first international event to use the rules.
From then onwards 168 WN World Ranking matches were played throughout 2024, with action from all five of our WN Regions.
Many of these games were streamed on our OTT platform, NetballPass, which this year also became the home to the top three elite domestic leagues around the world, the Suncorp Super Netball League (SSN), ANZ Premiership, and Netball Super League (NSL) allowing us to reach more fans around the globe and giving fans a central location to watch their favourite international stars in action.
We were thrilled to see NetballPass awarded ‘Best Fan Engagement Programme’ at the Sports Business Awards 2024, in a very competitive category.
We now have 52 ranked teams in our WN World Rankings, with France entering for the first time in July having played the minimum number of matches (8) required to gain a ranking.
In the shorter and faster format of our game, FAST5, the FAST5 Netball World Series (NWS) 2024 took place in November in Christchurch, New Zealand, with Australia making a clean sweep as both their women’s and men’s squads were victorious.
The FAST5 NWS 2024 was the final of the three consecutive FAST5 NWS to be played in New Zealand, and we would like to thank Netball New Zealand once again for hosting three fantastic spectacles for the world to see.
It wasn’t just the senior teams we saw in action in 2024 though. This year also marked the return of international netball for the elite emerging U21s in our game as our regional Netball World Youth Cup 2025 (NWYC2025) qualifiers took place.
Congratulations to all 20 teams that have qualified for the NWYC2025, to be hosted in Gibraltar from the 19th-28th September 2025.
Preparations for the event are now well underway with the brand launch taking place in February and the much-anticipated draw at the very end of the year in November.
For many of our qualified teams, the NWYC is often the first time their young players get the opportunity to compete against teams from other Regions around the world and experience different styles of play. It was a privilege for me to be able to be there in Gibraltar to be part of this draw and watch the matchups unfold, while also having the opportunity to meet the local leadership team and visit the competition venues.
The home fans in Gibraltar are in for an exciting first set of matches, with their team confirmed to play the defending champions New Zealand, as well as Malaysia, Cook Islands and Zambia in Pool A.
It has been particularly special watching the journey to the NWYC2025 come to life , especially after the NWYC2021 in Fiji was unfortunately cancelled because of COVID, and we can’t wait to continue this journey with the local organising committee, Gibraltar Netball, and the 20 participating teams in 2025.
We have also announced that Janet Young will be the Medical Advisory Panel (MAP) Representative for the NWYC2025. Welcome to the team Janet!
Away from our events, 2024 was a year of growth in terms of membership with WN welcoming St Eustatius as a new Member in October.
In extraordinary circumstances, Uganda re-joined WN as the newly formed Netball Uganda, following a period of significant administrative turmoil. With the support of experienced and independent sporting leaders, an Independent Normalisation Committee took temporary control and developed a new constitution which was passed at an extraordinary assembly.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those involved in the Normalisation Committee. At WN we are on a mission to grow, play and inspire through netball, keeping athletes at the heart of our decision making, and your actions ensured this happened.
We now finish 2024 with 65 Full Members and 12 Associate Members.
During the year we also grew our officiating workforce, with five International Umpire Awardees (IUA), one new International Testing Panel (ITP) Cadet and 10 receiving International Talent Identified Umpire status.
In addition to this, we saw many officials continue their journeys in various roles as they were re-endorsed or had their status’ renewed or extended.
Without our incredible officials there would be no netball, and this year especially with the officials having to learn the new rules launched in January, we are very thankful for their invaluable support.
Another key area of growth for WN this year has been commercially, as we continue to explore new strategies to generate more commercial revenue and build on the success of the NWC2023.
With that in mind, in 2024 we welcomed two new Independent Members to our Commercial Committee; Aarti Dabas and Louise Cullinan.
Aarti is based in Dubai, and her love of netball emerged through her daughter’s enjoyment of our sport. Aarti has significant experience in media, broadcast, digital, sponsorship and events and has worked with Formula E and ICC.
Louise lives in Switzerland, and is a long-time netball player, currently working as a Director of Insights so has significant experience in transforming sports data into insights leading to revenue.
Louise and Aarti’s skills complement those of Independent Director, Rob Mills, and WN Vice President and Commercial Committee Chair, Shirley Hooper, and they are all providing both strategic and pragmatic guidance to WN.
I mention the above in detail because we have found that by openly advertising for specific expertise aligned to our strategic plan we have been able to attract and recruit some amazingly talented individuals…and, if you are not already doing so, I would encourage you to explore these possibilities for your own organisations.
Keeping with the theme of growth, we have also seen change in leadership at the World Netball HQ this year. Following the end of Clare Briegal’s 10-year tenure as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Vicky Lowe joined WN in April 2024 as interim CEO.
Vicky did a fantastic job leading the team until November 2024, when we welcomed our new CEO, Fiona Harold.
We were very fortunate to be able to celebrate in style with Clare when the WN Board met in London in June. The whole Board and WN Family members from England were all invited to a very special banquet at the Guildhall in the City of London which was built in the 15th century.
I am already very impressed by our new CEO Fiona and look forward to working with her over the coming years in our respective leadership roles for WN.
At WN our priorities stem beyond facilitating grow and play, and throughout 2024 we launched various projects under our inspire strategy with the aim of creating a better world through netball.
This included focusing further on our sustainability strategy.
Furthering WN’s commitment to working towards a Net Zero target of 2040, paving the way for a more sustainability-conscious Netball Family, WN joined the United Nations (UN) Sport for Climate Action Community and partnered with Net Zero Group (NZG).
We have now launched a Carbon Engagement Portal with Climate-Technology business, NZG, encouraging our Netball Family to measure and reduce their personal carbon footprint.
We also announced our first Strategic Development Fund (SDF) awardees. With the SDF, our aim is to support our Members in developing netball aligned with the WN strategy and their own strategy.
Following a vigorous assessment process by the SDF panel, WN was pleased to announce that Netball Argentina, Barbados Netball Association, Fédération Ivoirienne de Netball, Netball Fiji and Netball Northern Ireland had been the first five successful awardees of funding.
We are looking forward to seeing the SDF make a tangible difference in these five countries.
Under our inspire strand we also have the World Netball Foundation (WN Foundation), of which I am a trustee and Chair.
This year the WN Foundation announced its first partnership with Indian Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Maitrayana.
Maitrayana facilitates programmes for adolescent girls and young women from the ages of 10 – 25 years, giving them the opportunity to take part in both netball and life skills programmes, with a focus on their rights. They also offer leadership pathways and economic justice programmes.
Through this partnership the WN Foundation will support 500 girls through these life changing programmes.
The WN Foundation has also begun to build a global library of netball-driven social change projects, as part of its ongoing commitment to harnessing the power of netball to drive social change.
We all need to amplify our voices, proudly sharing examples of how netball has for over a century, and is still, changing the lives of so many women and girls in particular.
We all hear such a lot about the male dominated sports that have recently acknowledged the need and opportunity to engage women and girls. Of course they have the resources to invest in activity and we should all celebrate that, but we need to be seen too, so send in examples of your great work in this area and we can help amplify it.
Together, we are creating a better world through netball.
So, following a successful year in all three areas of our strategy: to Grow, to Play and to Inspire, we also have lots to look forward to.
As we have already mentioned, we are now entering the year of the NWYC, and in other event news it has now been confirmed that netball will be included in the Glasgow 2026 Commonwealth Games.
We were thrilled to hear this news in October, and we are looking forward to working alongside the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) and Commonwealth Games Scotland (CGS) to ensure this is another extremely successful edition of the Games for netball.
In 2025, our events strategy will continue to be a key focus of ours as we look to unlock greater commercial revenue for our sport, and I look forward to being able to bring you all on this journey with us.
All that is left for me to do now is to wish you a very happy festive season.
With my very best wishes and sincere thanks to you all for everything you do for our Netball community.
Dame Liz Nicholl DBE