End of Netball era at Mystery Creek Events Centre

Last Monday (21st March) marked the end of an era as the last Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic netball game was played at the Mystery Creek Events Centre.
The Mystery Creek Events Centre has hosted netball for over 15 years with the first game hosted in 1996. Since then, 38 games and five NPC tournaments have been played at Mystery Creek with a total of 162,400 fans attending.
The NZ National Fieldays Society has supported netball to the value of $520,000 over the years. General Manager, Barry Quayle, said, "the Society gives its profits back to the community partly through sponsorship and support of events at our venue. And netball has been one of our largest beneficiaries.
"Although the Society is sad to see Magic leave Mystery Creek, one positive is that their departure frees up funds to support new iconic events and organisations utilising our venue."
Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic Chief Executive Sheryl Dawson, thanked Mystery Creek for being a unique and special part of the history of the franchise, stating "our time with Mystery Creek can be traced back to 1990s when interest in netball being played indoors was just starting to grow and there was increasing demand for large indoor venues to showcase the game. Test matches, especially against Australia, attracted large and enthusiastic audiences and Mystery Creek became a permanent fixture on the calendar.
"From the evolution of provincial netball in the Waikato to the birth of the Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic Franchise, playing in the National Bank Cup and now the ANZ Championship, Mystery Creek has been there as the venue of choice in the Waikato.
"We have enjoyed a very positive partnership and a strong working relationship with Mystery Creek which has not only included the sponsorship of Waikato Bay of Plenty Magic home games but also the venue where we last won the National Bank Cup. We are sad to bid them farewell as a venue."
Quayle also commented that "the relationship with Magic and the netball community is one we cherish. Mystery Creek has been an integral part of promoting netball, assisting netball to become a significant sport in New Zealand and leading the way with an inside netball venue of large capacity."
Magic won their game against the Vixens ï¾ 53 to 41.