A new-look Australian Netball Championships will hit the nation’s capital this August with two domestic teams set to make their championship debut.
This third edition of the open age competition will be contested from August 25 to 28 at Solar Hub ACT Netball Centre, located in the Australian Capital Territory.
The championships will welcome the Australian First Nations team, the Black Swans, and the NSW Waratahs to compete against hosts Capital Darters, and the Territory Storm.
This year’s championships will be the first edition since Netball Australia’s pilot competition, the Super Netball Reserves, was added to the national pathways calendar.
“We are excited to see this year’s Australian Netball Championships provide new opportunities for competing teams,” said Matt Lyons, Netball Australia’s acting Executive General Manager of High Performance.
“It is important to ensure we have a mix of developmental opportunities that evolve the talent within our entire netball ecosystem, inclusive of athletes, coaches, umpires and bench officials.
“Introducing our pathway pilot product, the Super Netball Reserves, provided an opportunity for us to review how these championships fit to develop our national pathway athletes within and outside of Suncorp Super Netball environments.
“This year’s championships will provide a dedicated opportunity for our competing teams and their emerging national talent to develop their skills across three days of high-level competition.”
The 2024 event will be the first time the Australian Netball Championships have been held in the Australian Capital Territory.
Netball ACT CEO Sally Clark welcomed the opportunity.
"We are excited to host the 2024 Australian National Championships in the nation’s capital this August,” she said.
“It will provide our Capital Darters players the opportunity to play in front of a home crowd, and the opportunity to showcase netball in our local community”.
The championships will be the second official appearance of the Australian First Nations team, the Black Swans.
The team made their netball debut last month at the Pacific Netball Series in Brisbane with the cohort competing as an invitational team against international teams from the Pacific, Asia and Africa.
Kaurna netballer and Black Swan athlete Aaleya Turner said she was thrilled by the opportunity to reconnect with her Black Swans team on and off the court this August.
"It is a wonderful opportunity for the Black Swans to come back and build on the momentum we gathered in our first six days together at the Pacific Series,” she said.
“Throughout the week, we proved their adaptability and versatility in bringing twelve players from across the country together and achieving success.
“The Black Swans is providing the opportunity for my teammates and I to play against talented netballers that can hopefully assist us in progressing our game throughout the netball pathway. It is very exciting to see what we can achieve together, hopefully more mob magic.”
Tickets to the 2024 Australian Netball Championships will be available for sale from Intix on Wednesday 10 July.
Every match of the championships will also be available to stream live across the week via Kommunity TV.
