\u201cThis leak has not had players\u2019 interests or wellbeing in mind, and I am so sorry that players have instead had to learn of this decision through the media rather than direct from NNZ. This was not how we intended such important information to be communicated. The distress and uncertainty it has created is deeply regrettable.<\/p>\n
Netball New Zealand CEO Jennah Wootten said its decision was leaked to the media before it could talk to players. Photos \/ Photosport<\/p>\n
\u201cOur intention was to brief players about any decision ahead of anyone else, including sharing details of what comes next.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is an advanced plan under development for an elite domestic netball competition in 2027. We are meeting with Zones and Teams today to further progress this work and will share substantive information once the plan is sufficiently developed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe know how difficult this uncertainty is, particularly for players whose careers and livelihoods are affected. We care deeply about these players and their futures, as well as those of the talented support staff who work in elite netball across New Zealand. <\/p>\n
\u201cAny and all decisions NNZ makes is with the best interests of our people and our sport at its absolute core. Our unwavering focus is on providing clarity for all concerned, as swiftly as possible, and from there working towards an exciting and sustainable future for elite domestic netball.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last week, Williams and Mowbray issued a statement slamming NNZ<\/a> for its decision.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are devastated. Ali and I gave this everything. Our time, our money and our hearts. We did it because we\u2019ve seen what a team can do for a community.<\/p>\n \u201cWith Auckland FC we\u2019ve watched families come together, kids find heroes and a city find its voice. This was our chance to do that for netball, for women\u2019s sport, at a scale this country has never seen.<\/p>\n \u201cYesterday that ended with an email. No reason. No call.<\/p>\n \u201cWhile we have no explanation why Netball NZ have decided to renege on our agreement<\/a> at the last minute, we still believe wholeheartedly in the netball community of New Zealand and the spirit behind it. We remain committed to being guardians and advocates of sport in New Zealand and see it as an important piece of our society.\u201d<\/p>\n The decision lurches the domestic scene back into uncertainty, where it has lived for most of the past three years due to one-year broadcast deals, the last of which has expired.<\/p>\n The Herald has spoken to a fully contracted ANZ Premiership player who spent two to three months using the Government\u2019s Job Seeker benefit<\/a> after this year\u2019s season ended in June. It is understood there are many netballers in a similar situation.<\/p>\n The athlete had moved away from her Auckland home to represent another region, and battled to find work once the domestic competition concluded.<\/p>\n \u201cI was struggling for a while financially, trying to afford rent,\u201d she said. \u201cI had to get family members to help out. It was a bit of a tough time, having to try and navigate that process.<\/p>\n \u201cI never wanted to be that person that would rely on that, and I never wanted to do that. With help from family members, they can only help with so much.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a while, and trying to apply for jobs and not hearing back from anything or getting the no. So it was a bit of a long process, which I wouldn\u2019t want any other person to go through. It\u2019s a difficult time.\u201d<\/p>\n New Zealand Netball Players Association boss Pippa Moore said the association did not know what the sticking points were, but it was addressing the players today.<\/p>\n Moore said the Players Association has serious worries for the mental health of the athletes.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve had a significant increase in players seeking mental health support. We\u2019ve had to assist people to get financial support. There are a lot of players out there that we\u2019re genuinely very, very concerned about.<\/p>\n \u201cThey have been through a lot, and they\u2019ve put their lives on hold. We\u2019re really just worried about what the toll that this news is going to have on them.\u201d<\/p>\n Moore said the association only found out about the decision on Thursday.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have been completely blindsided by this. Completely blindsided. We\u2019re just devastated.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel pretty deflated, really devastated and gutted that we\u2019re in this position. I feel like we\u2019re back to where we were months and months ago, and I thought that we had a clear but difficult pathway ahead of us.\u201d<\/p>\n She said sending the email informing the players on Friday morning was awful.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was so hard. I didn\u2019t think I\u2019d be sending that email. I thought this was all going ahead. I know these processes take a while and there\u2019s a lot to work through, and it\u2019s a big decision that Netball New Zealand made, but I never once thought that it would be Netball New Zealand pulling the pin on it. So it was incredibly difficult, and I just feel absolutely devastated for the players.<\/p>\n \u201cWe were really genuinely looking forward to a fresh, exciting competition to see what Ali and Anna could do with the sport that we all love and which is so important to this country. So to be back here, it\u2019s heartbreaking, really.\u201d<\/p>\n Nathan Limm<\/a> has been a journalist with Newstalk ZB and the NZ Herald since 2020. He covered the Netball World Cup in Cape Town in 2023, hosts The Big League Podcast<\/a> and commentates rugby and netball for Newstalk ZB Sport.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"\u201cThis leak has not had players\u2019 interests or wellbeing in mind, and I am so sorry that players…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":648210,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[37227,74,5845,112057,3500,4596,14134,11773,14736,48338,71,42,185,224194,33070,1073,306478,16762,43,69,1136,3109,317602,312,19554,40,38,41,39,13971,224195,80],"class_list":["post-648209","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-addressing","tag-after","tag-anna","tag-axing","tag-ceo","tag-competition","tag-decision","tag-deeply","tag-domestic","tag-fallout","tag-from","tag-headlines","tag-is","tag-jennah","tag-leaks","tag-media","tag-mowbrays","tag-netball","tag-news","tag-nz","tag-private","tag-public","tag-regrettable","tag-says","tag-taken","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-williams","tag-wootten","tag-zealand"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648209","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=648209"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/648209\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/648210"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=648209"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=648209"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=648209"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Ali Williams (left) and Anna Mowbray (second from left) slammed Netball New Zealand, led by Jennah Wootten (right), for its decision to axe their proposed private domestic competition. Photos \/ Photosport<\/p>\n
New Zealand Netball Players’ Association general manager Pippa Moore (left) said there are worries about the players’ mental health. Photo \/ Dean Purcell<\/p>\n