By Matt Fotia
Charlie Bell was, understandably, in demand.
Standing at 197cm tall and armed with Suncorp Super Netball experience, the 23-year-old goal shooter was a person of interest this signing period, with the newly minted English Netball Super League and ANZ Premiership sides intent on luring the young Australian talent overseas.
But Bell wasn’t tempted.
She had made up her mind and would be spending the 2025 season on the Sunshine Coast developing her game under the watchful eyes of Belinda Reynolds and co, as one of the Lightning’s training partners.
Bell had informed her manager she wasn’t interested in an overseas stint and turned down multiple offers, including ones from NSL side Nottingham Forest and kiwi outfit, the Northern Stars.
Her defiant stance, whilst admirable, caused some bewilderment amongst her Lightning teammates.
“After I said no to the Nottingham offer, I had a conversation with my housemates Leesa (Mi Mi) and Ash (Ervin), and it was helpful to get their insights. They really encouraged me to go for it and put myself out there,” Bell explained.
“Personally, I wanted to give it one last shot at the Lightning.
“It’s my state, it’s my home, but I realised I really needed to grow in the on court high-performance area.”
Fortunately for Bell there was another offer coming, this time from a familiar face.
Long time Stars coach Kiri Wills had signed on as Queensland Firebirds coach and former Silver Fern Temepara Bailey had been named as her replacement.
Bailey had spent the past few seasons coaching the Gold Coast Titans in the Queensland state league (the Sapphire Series) and had crossed paths with Bell multiple times across the journey.
So, this time under new leadership the Stars reached out again and this time their persistence paid off.
“I saw it as fate the (Stars) offer just kept coming back,” Bell said.
“When I agreed to join the call with Temepara I was going in with no preconceived ideas, I was just going to have a chat.
“Her confidence in me was a big factor in changing my mind, it suddenly made sense to accept the offer.
“As scary as it is, moving overseas is going to benefit me a lot more than another season as a training partner.”
Bell has been with the Lightning for the past two seasons.Bell, to her credit, made sure the Lightning were across every offer she received during the off-season.
Initially they were pleased to hear the Queensland pathway product was committed to developing her game on the Sunshine Coast, but as the offers continued to roll in, even the Lightning hierarchy were beginning to worry Bell might have missed the boat.
“Belinda was stoked for me when I finally accepted the contract,” Bell said.
“Every offer I received, I told Belinda, and I think by the third one she was a bit worried for me.
“Whenever I came to them and told them about an offer, they told me how invested they were in my development here on the Sunshine Coast but reminded me they thought I would benefit from some high-level gameplay.”
Bell is more aware than most of the development opportunities awaiting her across the Tasman.
Earlier this year she spent a fortnight with the Tactix as an injury replacement player and found the differences between the Australian style of play and the New Zealand style jarring.
“I learned a lot from the likes of Jane Watson and Karin Burger during my short stint with the Tactix,” Bell said.
“How they read the play, how quickly they transition the ball up court, and their structures are so different to what we are used to in Australia.
“I’ve always been taught to get the ball to circle edge and then place the ball nice and easy to the tall shooter, but in New Zealand you need to have your eyes up all the time, because if the pass is on, it’s coming.”
One moment in particular stood out for the former Australian Under 21 star.
“Karin received the ball the deep in the centre third and gave me a look to say, ‘it’s coming’ and I was like ‘no no no’,” Bell explained.
“The quarter finished, and she came up to me and said, ‘you were one-on-one, I back you in every single time’.”
Bell won’t be the only player in for a shock in next season’s ANZ Premiership.
Defenders will need to learn quickly they can’t judge this book by its cover, with Bell keen to break the long-held stigma that players of her stature are one dimensional.
She believes the addition of the two-point shot to the Sapphire Series, and the introduction of the SSN Reserves competition, have helped expand her repertoire.
“One of the biggest things I learned from some of the best in Cara (Koenen) and Steph (Fretwell), and even Gretel Bueta when I was at the Firebirds, was you don’t need to standing still. Even if you’re 6’5 you can use your agility and become unpredictable,” Bell said.
“Bringing the super shot into the Sapphire series, and being able to play in the SSN Reserves, really helped change my game.
“People don’t expect someone so tall to shoot long and I like to pride myself on my long-range abilities.”
“Personally, I think I break the stigma of being a tall holding shooter who can only shoot under the post.”
In a bygone era, someone with Bell’s CV and stature would no doubt hold a Super Netball contract.
But with more multi-year deals and the overall growth of the professional game lending itself to longer careers, spots are harder to come by for younger athletes, leaving them to take on these overseas opportunities.
Bell believes this is good for the sport.
“It’s just going to help the game be bigger and better,” Bell said.
“The game is ever-growing and young players need to be able to continue our development, so it means going overseas.”
“I’m happy so many young talents have taken the leap.
“We are being brave and taking a chance on ourselves, and I’m proud to be one of those people.”
