Over the next two days, Wednesday 26th and Thursday 27th July, World Netball (WN) is hosting its Congress ahead of the Netball World Cup 2023 (NWC2023) which is starting on the 28th July at the Cape Town International Convention Centre.
Congress 2023, a meeting of the Membership of WN, is the organisation’s first in-person meeting of Congress since July 2019.
WN President, Dame Liz Nicholl DBE, has this morning opened proceedings saying: “Thank you to all our Members, those here today, or joining us online, for your commitment of time and energy that you give so selflessly, providing amazing opportunities for communities around the world to engage in and develop through our sport.
“We will continue to work with you to make sure that our sport is open to all, regardless of gender, race or age.
“We will continue to work with you to increase global participation, reach, revenue and capacity.
“We will continue to work with you to drive game development and worldwide delivery of a portfolio of thrilling world-class events.
“And we will all continue to harness the power of netball to change lives.
“Let’s GROW, let’s PLAY and let’s INSPIRE.”
Nicholl will conduct a roll call of Members, with around 150 delegates, observers and guests expected to be present, before honouring those Members of the Netball Family who have passed since the last Special Meeting of Congress in 2022.
Members will also hear from WN CEO, Clare Briegal, who will present the Board Report, and WN Finance Director, Ann Tod MNZM who will report on the finances of the federation.
Items on the agenda for day one include proposed changes to the International Rules of Netball, two items for discussion which have been submitted by WN Full Members, and four applications for Full Membership.
In closing the Congress on the 26th, the election of Officers will take place, including the election of the WN President, the Member’s Representative on the Nomination’s Committee, and the appointment of two new Board Directors recommended by the Board.
Dame Liz Nicholl DBE is the sole candidate for the role of President and Catherine Lewis is the sole candidate for the Nominations Committee representative.
In a WN first, the federation will be appointing an Athlete Director. Stacey Francis-Bayman, recommended by the Board, who is the sole candidate for the role.
In addition to this WN is also looking to appoint an Independent Finance Director. The current Finance Director, Ann Tod, steps down from her role after serving for 12 years. Suri Bartlett recommended by the Board is the sole candidate for this role.
To end the proceedings on day one, the WN Service Awards will be presented.
An announcement on the results of the elections and appointments, as well as a full list of Service Awardees will be published after the first day of Congress.
On day two, WN delegates will hear from the event hosts for NWC2023 (South Africa), Netball World Youth Cup 2025 (Gibraltar) and Netball World Cup 2027 (Australia).
On day two, Keynote speakers Minister Kirsty Coventry OLY, Caroline Barker, Journalist and Presenter, Stacey Francis-Bayman, former England Rose and Commonwealth Champion and Hendrine Grove, SuperSport Producer will debate the topic of “The Unstoppable Rise of Women’s, Sport Opportunities and Risks: What does this mean for our growth ambitions?”
World Netball will be posting live updates from Congress across its social media channels. Follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and TikTok to keep up to date and use the hashtag #WNCongress23 to get involved.
The WN Congress agenda and papers can be found here.
For more information on Congress, visit the website here.
