NETBALL: United eyes on goal

ANENDRA SINGH
The days of factional existence of netball in Hawke's Bay are numbered as the Eastern region prepares to bring the code under one umbrella.
A Eastern Netball regional forum in Napier on Sunday was unanimous that if the sport is to grow then personal agendas need to be put aside and the Napier/Hastings rivalry quashed so the region can prosper.
The day-long forum held at the Pettigrew-Green Arena, in Taradale, enticed more than 40 participants from the code, marketing and communication groups to gradually achieve key goals within five years.
Eastern Netball Region general manager Brendon Rope told SportToday the forum's projections would be put before the Eastern board on the weekend of November 3-4.
"It'll just be a matter of identifying what we do first," Rope said of the board that comprises chairwoman Kay Matheson, Anthony Karauria, of Gisborne, Tony Gardiner, of Napier, Di Ennor, of Waipukurau, Sharlene Bryant, of Napier, and Heidi Oliver, of Hastings, and Fiona Horne.
Eastern Netball Region caters for netball from the top of the East Cape down the East Coast to Dannevirke in the south. The region boasts more than 7000 netballers.
Six netball centres - Hastings, Napier, Central (Waipukurau), Dannevirke, Wairoa and Gisborne (East Coast come under the Gisborne umbrella) - that host competitions for clubs and schools. The two junior centres of Hastings and the East Coast (Ruatoria) cater for children's needs.
The Eastern regional office is staffed with full-time regional manager Rope, a part-time development co-ordinator, Robyn Stallard, a part-time administrator, Hayley Jones and two casual project co-ordinators Jo McDowall and Charissa Wilson.
The forum heard that by operating as a single unit the code would be in a better position to lure sponsorship and dip into community grants.
A rotational cycle of board members will mean that two of them will vacate their seats every year at their annual meetings, starting with this year on December 1. That would ensure the board doesn't lose all its experience and expertise.
The forum heard that the shackles of "the old girls' network" needed to be broken to make the code more approachable.
"The important thing from the forum was that people are thinking beyond their backyard," Rope said.
The transition between amateur and professional netball wasn't smooth and sponsorship was vital, especially if players were to go on to represent the new Central franchise in the ANZ Transtasman Netball Championship, involving Australians, starting in April next year.
"It's a tall order because we don't have the talent base to make that team right now. The goal is to develop a base and talent ID and those sorts of things before players start coming out from here," Rope said.
Eastern has players such Charlotte Kight from the region but, like Kight (studying at Canterbury University), they have drifted to universities around the country to pursue their career.
Rope was delighted to disclose that the region was in the pipeline to secure an ANZ championship match. The uniform of the Eastern players is also under the microscope and a re-branding exercise is on the agenda.