Netball Australia commences search for new Chief Executive

Facing a series of financial and reputational issues, Netball Australia has advised that it has appointed global executive search firm SRI to lead the recruitment process to find a replacement for Chief Executive Kelly Ryan who resigned in December.

Advising that with more than one million participants nationally and growing, netball has deep roots in every community across the country, Netball Australia Chair, Wendy Archer stated “our Origin Diamonds are World Champions and Australia will be hosting the 2027 Netball World Cup so this is an exciting time for the sport to look forward with great anticipation.

“We are always looking to improve on and off the court to build our relationships, support our players, our clubs and grow our commercial partnerships.’’

SRI’s Jonathan Harris, who will lead the recruitment, said “Netball Australia is a major professional and participation sport of national significance.

"It is critical we identify a leader with exceptional stakeholder and relationship management skills who can succeed across the federated structure of the sport. Excellent strategic and commercial leadership skills are also required to deliver growth across the whole netball ecosystem.”

However, despite its participation and elite success, Netball Australia has courted considerable controversy in recent years.

The organisation has faced pandemic related losses while the poor performance of Suncorp Super Netball led to the independent body that initially managed the sport being abolished with management brought in house.

It also lost a significant sponsorship from Hancock Prospecting as a result of former Board member Marina Go advising the Diamonds not to wear the mining company’s logo - although at the time it was reported that Indigenous Diamonds players had been responsible for the move.

In addition, for most of last year Netball Australia was involved in pay dispute with leading players.

Following Ryan’s resignation, Stacey West was appointed interim Chief Executive. West will continue to lead Netball Australia while the recruitment process is underway.

For inquiries about the recruitment process please contact Elliot Bowman at ebowman@sriexecutive.com