![\"Stars](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/4JNEEI9_260607StarsSteel_016_jpg.jpeg\")
<\/p>\nSilver Fern speaks out over Netball NZ uncertainty<\/p>\n
Morning Report<\/p>\n
Silver Fern Amelia Walmsley says players will be forced to look overseas or leave netball altogether if Netball NZ doesn’t quickly come up with a plan for the domestic competition.<\/p>\n
For the third year, players went into the ANZ Premiership unsure about the future of the league. But with the season coming to an end on the weekend and still no news, it’s never been quite this precarious.<\/p>\n
Netball New Zealand has not given any updates about what its plans for the competition and no guarantees it will even survive from next year. There is no broadcast deal in place beyond 2026.<\/p>\n
Walmsley told Morning Report that they dedicate their lives to the sport.<\/p>\n
“We train, we recover, eat, sleep, sacrifice like professional athletes because that’s what it takes to compete at an elite level but the reality is is that we’re not treated like professionals and we’re definitely not paid like professionals,” Walmsley said.<\/p>\n
She said the ANZ Premiership as a product is not the issue.<\/p>\n
“The games are fast, it’s super competitive, there’s only six teams so there’s really strong rivalries, the fans are so passionate, we’re selling out stadiums each week … it’s amazing, so what is happening to allow it to get to this point I’m not sure.”<\/p>\n
Walmsley said it was frustrating to have heard no news from Netball New Zealand as yet.<\/p>\n
“We don’t even know if there’s a competition next year, what’s hard to understand is how we’ve ended up here. It shouldn’t be this bad for a game with so much participation, so much history, so much support around the country, it just doesn’t make sense.<\/p>\n
“Every Saturday courts and stadiums are packed with kids who just love this game.”<\/p>\n
She said the uncertainty could force players to look overseas or leave the sport.<\/p>\n
“These are people’s careers, these are people’s lives, these are decisions that impact whether players can stay in the sport they love or not.<\/p>\n
“If things get worse, you know it’s getting close now, players will be forced to leave, players will be forced overseas, players will leave the game altogether because simply they actually just can’t afford to keep playing.<\/p>\n
“Netball means so much to so many people in this country and the uncertainty is sad and that’s scary for us players, but it is for everyone.”<\/p>\n
Walmsley, who is preparing for the Commonwealth Games later this month, said she wants to stay playing in New Zealand for another couple of years before looking to gain some overseas experience.<\/p>\n
“But the reality is I might need to explore those opportunities earlier. If there is a competition next year, there will most likely be significant pay cuts on top of the ones that we already received last year.<\/p>\n
“What I have to consider is that the quality of the competition may reduce and there is so much to weigh up. World Cup is next year, I want to put myself in the best position possible to perform and grow my game to be in contention for selection and it’s about where I’m going to be able to do that.”<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Shooter Amelia Walmsley played for the Stars in 2026.<\/p>\n
photosport<\/p>\n
Walmsley said along with her Silver Ferns contact, she can make it work financially for now but it could get worse.<\/p>\n
“I’ve got a mortgage to pay off and what does that mean for me if we’re receiving more pay cuts … going overseas is going to have to be something I consider.”<\/p>\n
We need everyone’s help<\/p>\n
Walmsley’s Silver Ferns and Stars team-mate Mila Reuelu-Buchanan spoke about the state of the game at the franchise’s awards night a few days ago, in a clip that has circulated on social media.<\/p>\n
“She summed it up perfectly, we just need everyone’s help. We need everyone to come together and rally and use our voices, anyone that can offer help, honestly just to try and see what we can do here.<\/p>\n
“We just need everyone’s help, we need everyone’s voices to be heard, we want to work with Netball New Zealand, we all want the same thing, and that’s a future for this sport in New Zealand so we just need to rally together and do what we can to help make sure this sport doesn’t die in this country.”<\/p>\n
Walmsley said she could not understand how a sport that was so popular in New Zealand was struggling to sustain a domestic league.<\/p>\n
“It baffles me and keeps me up at night, we wouldn’t be having this conversation with an All Black. There is the biggest netball culture amongst NZ … I can’t quite figure it out.<\/p>\n
“What makes me so sad is then what happens to little kids who dream of being a Silver Fern one day. It’s heading into the next year and we don’t know what that looks like and what pathway are we leaving for them if we don’t have a strong domestic competition in New Zealand, what opportunities will they have?”<\/p>\n
Netball New Zealand declined an interview.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Silver Fern speaks out over Netball NZ uncertainty Morning Report Silver Fern Amelia Walmsley says players will be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":504834,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[111,139,69,213],"class_list":["post-504833","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-new-zealand","tag-newzealand","tag-nz","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504833","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=504833"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/504833\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/504834"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=504833"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=504833"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=504833"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}