You are my first love.
My mother instilled that early in my life. She took me to my first Otago Rebels game at the old stadium in Victoria Rd, Dunedin, and later the makeshift blue court at the Edgar Centre to watch Angela Mitchell and Megan Hutton battle during the Rebels-Sting derby.
I also watch the ANZ Premiership and Super Netball — every game, every week — so you could call me a netball tragic.
Forgive me, then, for being incensed at the situation we find ourselves in yet again.
It is nearly two weeks since the ANZ Premiership final and there is still no word on the future of the domestic competition.
Netball New Zealand has remained silent, apart from saying a decision is yet to be made and acknowledging it is a tough period.
That is the understatement of the century.
How is netball the premier women’s sport in this country — and the highest for secondary school participation — yet it is teetering on the brink of not having a professional league?
Watching Northern Mystics captain Michaela Sokolich-Beatson well up after the final for the second straight year, pleading for the future of the sport, was enough to break your heart.
Athletes and coaches are putting their necks on the line, speaking up about the unsettling period to fight for their futures and for the next generations.
Where is that same courage from the top executives? The ones who are paid the big bucks to steer the sport in the right direction have been awfully quiet of late.
There is no doubt the chaos of the past year — Silver Ferns coach Noeline Taurua being stood down, NNZ chief executive Jennie Wyllie resigning and top staff and board members moving on — has hindered the urgency for domestic discussions.
But domestic games continued to sell out this season — Dunedin sold out for the first time in the Southern Steel’s 18-year history — and Trusts Arena was bursting for the final.
There are plenty of rumours out there for 2027, from the ANZ Premiership returning, to it turning to an NPC format or going completely amateur and players no longer being paid.
But Mystics coach Tia Winikerei was bang on when she said it would take the sport years to recover without an elite competition.
You are not just hurting the cream of the crop, you are damaging the foundation on which netball sits.
That foundation includes the young players who cram the courts on chilly mornings and aspire to be the next big name, coaches and officials who want to give back, and the countless volunteers and staff members keeping the centres ticking over.
What do they have to look up to? Where are the pathways for secondary school and NNL athletes? Where is the security to keep people involved?
They will walk away from the sport. They already have: Mainland Tactix defender Paris Lokotui left to play rugby and has excelled with Matatū.
And how do you expect the Silver Ferns to be the best in the world if players have no elite competition?
It is clear the current domestic model is not financially sustainable for NNZ. There are strong rumours they are supplying the coin for the league to be shown on TVNZ this year.
But you are playing with people’s livelihoods — and that is no joke.
We have heard from players on the clear possibility of heading overseas for financial, and playing, security.
The UK league only revamped in 2025 and the fact many Kiwis might have to move thousands of miles away to play professional netball is mind-boggling. Expect more to flee to Australia, too.
New Zealand can take immense pride in being the first country to celebrate 100 years of our great sport — but there is little to smile about in the current climate.
Discussions are commercially sensitive and rightly take time. But the time is up.
Players, coaches, franchises, staff, fans and hard-working volunteers need an answer.
Front up and give them one. It is the least they deserve.
Signed,
A frustrated fan.
