Netball: Otago back in the black

Netball Otago's financial outlook is a lot rosier than it was this time last year, with the incorporated society recording its first profit in three years.

The organisation has been working hard to return its books to the black since it wound up the Rebels franchise at the end of the 2007 season.

The organisation borrowed $60,000 from Netball New Zealand to honour the Rebels' financial commitments.

But with that millstone cast aside, Netball Otago has been able to post a healthy return.

It recorded a surplus of $54,147 for the financial year ending October 31, 2009 - quite a turnaround from the previous financial year, in which a deficit of $113,185 was recorded.

Expenses have dropped from $478,037 to $234,445, a reduction of more than 50%.

Revenue has also fallen away, from $340,190 to $269,840, but its equity has risen from a deficit of $23,123 to $31,024.

"We're heading in the right direction," Netball Otago regional manager Nicki Paterson said.

"We had to take a loan out a couple of years ago, but we knew we had everything in place to get it paid off.

"It is still difficult to keep heading in the direction we want to go.

"You'll see that the funding and grants are down quite a lot from 2008.

"So that's why we are trying to develop other funding streams.

"We have to make sure we stay on the right side of the ledger."

Paterson said it had made cuts where it could, including buying in software to reduce its accountancy costs, but it was still committed to delivering quality netball programmes and could only trim the budget so much.

Netball Otago chairwoman Adrienne Ensor said in the annual report player numbers were up in all levels, but as the sport continued to grow, finding funds would continue to be a challenge in 2010.