INF’s Congress is the meeting of the Membership of the INF and is held once every 2 years usually before the Netball World Youth Cup and Netball World Cup. The 2019 Congress was held on the 10th and 11th July 2019 at the ACC, Liverpool ahead of the Vitality Netball World Cup 2019. This was the largest Congress to date with 45 members in attendance.
Congress is an opportunity for the Membership to meet with the Board of Directors to review progress and determine the priorities for the next period. The business of the 2019 Congress included:
- A report from the INF Board;
- Consideration of applications of new Members;
- Elections for INF President and Finance Director;
- Approval of the annual accounts;
- Consideration of any changes proposed to the company’s Memorandum and Articles of Association;
- Announcement of INF Service Awards; and
- Dealing with any other business as determined by the Board.
Elections for the Board of Directors also take place at Congress and last year, Liz Nicholl CBE, former CEO of UK Sport, was elected as INF President and took over from Hon Molly Rhone OJ, CD on the 21st July 2019. Marva Bernard, OD was elected as Director for Americas, Lyn Carpenter was elected as Director for Europe, and Wainikiti Bogidrau was elected as Director for Oceania.
As part of Congress, INF invited the following speakers to deliver talks to its Members:
- Julie Harrington, CEO of British Cycling – Tackling bullying and discrimination
- Malibu Raditladi, President Botswana Netball Association – Safe Sport programme
- Rowland Jack, Founder of I Trust Sport – Governance in sport
- Kate Agnew, Netball NewZealand – Netball Smart Programme
- Alanna Antcliff, Netball Australia Physio – The Knee programme
- Shari Layton, Former International Netballer – Athletes perspective
Watch all the talks here.
INF also offered a full programme of workshops for Members to attend throughout the Netball World Cup. The 2019 programme included the following workshops:
- Good Governance
- Safeguarding in Sport
- Anti-doping
- Regional Federation Workshop
- International Event Calendar and INF Portfolio
- Net2019 Legacy
- International Umpiring Process
- International Test Match Procedures
- Rules – Shine the Light
- Marketing Planning and Communications
- Live streaming & Broadcast
The next Congress is due to be held in Suva, Fiji in June 2021.
To find out more about INF’s Congress click here.