Netball WA

Netball Australia responds to Crawford report

Friday, November 20, 2009

By Netball Australia

When netball representatives from around Australia gather for a national conference next weekend, number one item on the agenda is the recommendations of the Independent Sport Panel on the Future of Sport in Australia.

Netball Australia CEO Kate Palmer said that the national conference was a perfect forum for the sport’s decision makers to debate the two most critical aspects of the report: the national sports policy framework and the definition of sporting success.

“We need to discuss what it means for netball but also what it means for the sport industry overall.”

“Much of this report is common sense. Australia deserves a better system. One that can deliver both elite and participation outcomes driven by a more professional sport industry.

“I’m pleased that the report makes all levels of the industry accountable for delivering from grass roots to the elite level.”

Netball is the highest participant female sport in the country, with more than 300,000 registered members and an estimated one million participants playing organised or social netball each week.

At the elite level, the Australian Netball Diamonds are arguably one of Australia’s most successful sporting teams, World Champions nine out of a potential 12 times and currently ranked number one in the world. The national team has dominated in the international arena since the 60s.

The sport is a classic example of a mass participation code that introduces habits of life-long physical activity to large numbers of young people, primarily female, and the results at the top end speak for themselves.

Palmer says that netball welcomes the recommendations around making sport and physical education a priority in the education system.

“It is critical that young Australians learn basic skills that start them on the path to lifelong participation in sport and recreation,’ she said.

“This shouldn’t be a debate about one sport over another, it should be about what is best for Australians overall.

“This is about providing a framework for good decision-making that supports the health of Australians, gets people active and leads to the development of great athletes. And we believe it has to start in schools.”

Palmer is pleased that the report does not recommend reductions in funding to sport but that it highlights any decisions about increasing investment need to be made with the priorities for both elite and grassroots participation in mind.

Participation issues also go hand in hand with the need to address the national issues on the future of volunteerism and the provision of infrastructure.

She believes it is not unreasonable that any Australian government investment in sport can expect to result in well managed sporting bodies with solid governance structures that are able to deliver measurable outcomes at the both the elite and participation levels.

"Sport has been waiting a long time for an opportunity like this. It shouldn’t be a face-off. Let’s embrace the opportunity for change with unity and in the same commonsense way that this report is framed.”

Netball Australia responds to Crawford report

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