Netball: Cometz look at options after crashing to earth

By JULIE ASH

Netball New Zealand chief executive Shelley McMeeken has hit back at Counties Manukau Cometz officials, saying their axing from the national league was not up for debate, nor was it a legal issue.

The Counties Manukau Cometz have said they may consider legal action against Netball New Zealand for dropping them from the National Bank Cup.

Cometz board member Maree Bernasconi said it was one of the options they will consider at their meeting in the next few days.

"It'll be a board decision," she said.

Netball New Zealand decided to cut the number of teams from nine to eight from next season and link the franchises to a region rather than a province.

They say the move was aimed at strengthening the competition.

McMeeken said she could understand the disappointment of the Cometz, but their dismissal came after a lengthy review, which included input from the 9 franchises.

"I totally sympathise with them," she said. "It is very disappointing but they haven't spoken to us yet and we don't think this is a legal issue."

In making the decision to cut the Cometz, the board considered several factors, including the independent PricewaterhouseCoopers report which all franchises contributed to, information from regions and franchises, the number of teams, the length of the competition, the strength of the teams, the number of elite players, geographic representation and performance over the last four years.

Bernasconi said Netball New Zealand perceived Cometz to be part of Auckland as they always referred to three Auckland franchises whenever the topic was discussed.

"The Cometz have never been, and will never be, part of Auckland or South Auckland," she said. "The Cometz are Counties Manukau which is separate from Auckland in almost every sport and in council.

"If we have a lovely little talented netballer here in one of our rep teams, mum and dad will have to put her in a car and take her to Auckland or Waikato - that's probably a three-hour round trip twice a week.

"There are a lot of people who can't afford to do that or don't have the time. Those girls will miss out."

McMeeken said the development of netball in Counties Manukau would not be affected by the loss of the Cometz.

She said Counties and Manukau was still one of 12 regions throughout the country and the team would field representative teams and compete in the national provincial championships. It would also have a regional manager soon.