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Nicki Paterson
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.
