Netball is an unashamedly female sport. Sure, there are some scattered men’s leagues, and socially-thriving mixed comps around the country, but it is a high-finesse sport excelled at and mastered by women and girls. And now the organisation that runs it at an elite level is also showing its players some financial respect.
And wait, there’s more – Netball Australia has recognised that women, even elite sporting types, can become mums. The new deal includes allowances for players with infants under 12 months old to travel with a carer at the club’s expense.
Netball is the most popular participation sport in Australia so you’d think that pay deals and good player conditions would already be in place. But it’s a women’s sport, and traditionally in Australia all of that extra stuff beyond just hitting the court has been lagging in Australia.
So, understandably, this is deal is being called “landmark” because it recognises that these women are not only elite athletes but professional sports players.
This agreement between Netball Australia, the players’ association and the eight participating clubs in the new league overshadows anything else in Australian women’s team sport. Throw in the five-year broadcast rights and revenue-sharing arrangement with Nine Entertainment, which will screen games on prime-time free-to-air TV, and netball is starting to sound like a proper professional sport, and even a career young girls can dream of aspiring to.
So what salaries will these players be getting? Under this deal, each club will have up to $675,000 to spend on its list of 10 contracted athletes, meaning that the average salary will increase to $67,500 (not including playing for Australia or sponsorships). But it’s those players who are at the lower end of the contract scale who will see the biggest improvement with minimum salaries doubling from $13,250 to $27,375. According to The Guardian, 10 years ago elite netballers were being paid $1000 a year.
Here’s another shout-out for Netball Australia – it’s committed to investing a greater proportion of its revenue than any other sport (male or female) into its athletes. Plus, along with its parental care policy, it will private health insurance contributions of up to $1,500 per annum, per player; and 100 per cent income protection on all earnings for up to two years in the event of injury or pregnancy.
“(This) announcement represents a giant step in our collective aspiration to achieve full-time professionalism for all of our athletes”, said Marne Fechner, Netball Australia’s Deputy Chief Executive.
It’s been a year of shake-ups and breaking ground for Netball Australia this year. Besides the new pay structure and broadcast rights deal, a couple months ago it announced the existing trans-Tasman league would be replaced next year with a new Australian only, eight-team national league, including a couple with links to AFL clubs.
Talking AFL, let’s hope this sporting organisation, which has been boasting a lot about its female league, is taking note.
