The Off the Court podcast tackles the big questions on Netball Super League's (NSL) new era from next year; relaunch of the NSL will mark a significant step for the sport towards professionalisation in the UK; new league that will underpin the NSL also to be introduced in 2025
Friday 7 June 2024 15:15, UK
The Off the Court Podcast took a deep dive into the big questions that have been asked since the eight clubs have been confirmed for the Netball Super League's relaunch from 2025.
Tamsin Greenway and Caroline Barker were joined by Managing Director of the Netball Super League, Claire Nelson, and the Managing Director of the Netball Players Association, Liz Bloor, to discuss the fear over the loss of clubs like Team Bath and how the decision was made to decide who will be included in the top league.
The new era of Netball will see 50 per cent of games played in major arenas across the country to draw bigger crowds and enhance the match-day experience for fans.
The average salary will increase by at least 60 per cent, with the minimum salary payment more than doubling.
However, there are currently 10 teams in the Netball Super League (NSL), so there will be two fewer from next year, the Birmingham Panthers and Nottingham Forest Netball joining the league and Team Bath, Severn Stars, Strathclyde Sirens, and Surrey Storm missing out. Squad sizes will also be reduced from 12 registered players to 10.
Nelson opened up on the tough decisions made to take netball professional and how they had to prioritise "infrastructure" over "heart and passion" when picking the eight sides.
"This is where we are at today. We have got eight clubs that can meet these criteria and we have talked about other opportunities where we think there could be other regions and investing partners who want to come into the sport," she told Off the Court.
"For now, we would not have been doing the right thing for the sport if we went with heart, passion, hard work, legacy, and hope.
"We have to build this on infrastructures that, we believe, are built to last and that is why we wanted to give information to players sooner but we have had to go through financial scrutiny and look at the people and organisations that are committing to doing this for us.
"We have had to have the evidence of that and we have had to make sure, as an independent panel, as a governing body, as owners of a sport, can say we have confidence that we have made the right decision for us in order to professionalise the sport and take the sport on this journey.
"It doesn't mean we have all the boxes ticked. We know there are some gaps and we are working really, really hard to make sure we don't lose pathways or participation opportunities.
"But for professionalisation, we had to make the right decision that was going to give us the best shot of moving forward into this new era."
One of the main concerns that arose since the announcement was the loss of some clubs in the top league, particularly Team Bath as a long-standing presence in the South West.
However, Bloor is not worried that a "generation of players" will be lost due to the lack of having a team in Bath in the professional league.
"I am not (worried). I live in Bath. I have been involved in Team Bath almost since its inception. I represented them in 2005 at the launch of the iteration of Super League," she said.
"I am obviously passionately disappointed that they are not going to be there, but I understand that they did not make the cut in the brave new world.
"So, we have to park that and look at how it can not be a disaster.
"Across the South West for years there have been very healthy netball leagues in all the Counties.
"Those hubs, as long as someone is leading the pathway, all of those things will still happen.
"Yes, they won't have the matches seven times a year in which a Super League match happens.
"There is only a relatively few people who go every time or take a trip up once a season to watch.
"There will still be top-level netball visible on the television, on streaming services, so you can still see what you are aspiring to do.
"There is the opportunity to move to other places if you are going to get into that Super League time so I don't think we should catastrophise it.
"It is difficult, it is disappointing, but netball was running in the South West before Team Bath came.
"I don't think it is a disaster. My heart goes out to Asha (Francis) and the players there. But I don't think we should say this is the death of netball in the South West."
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