I gather, I am a targeted audience member, you see. I am in the ‘right’ geographical area - mainly where Back to Netball has been successful, I suspect. And I fit into one of two specific groups
1. Twenty something ambitious career woman with disposable income (I wish)
or
2. Yummy mummy who has no spare time on her hands but would enjoy ‘ a night out’ reminding herself what it is to be young, with no responsibilities, again. (That may well be me!)
‘The Corporates’ (as defined by me) are the money-driven companies with head offices normally at the other end of the country, offering ‘rock up and play’ netball at astronomical prices. I feel in my rights to label them ‘astronomical’ because I know what they are charging in respect to what they are paying out! Make no bones about it, they are there for the money, not for the netballer!
Their success, I believe, firstly comes from doing their research, (kudos to them!) targeting the areas where Back to Netball and other such programmes have been popular, but (and it’s their own fault) the NGB hasn’t necessarily acted quick enough to offer participants a exit route, if they indeed want one. Think Portsmouth, Southampton, London, Newcastle and Bristol. But by no means are they the only cities these companies have aggressively targeted!
My own experience of these ‘corporates’ hasn’t been great.
One, I believe, sent a ‘spy’ in the guise of a ‘coach who’d like to offer something back to netball by volunteering / coaching at a Back to Netball session’. Pumped me for information (perhaps I was naive but I had no idea 00GA was operating in netball circles!) Only never to reply to any emails, voicemails or even say hi to me in passing again! Yes, she was known to me. Yes, it does make it worse!
Another, I was ‘forced’ to work with in my previous role and let’s just say they got a lot more out of the deal than I, or EN did. Lesson definitely learnt. By me, at least.
Now let’s be clear, I have no problem at all with people making money out of netball.
I never have done and indeed, if it wasn’t for ‘All About Netball’ in my area (an organisation, wrongly, I believe, regarded as a ‘corporate’ by netball bigwigs) then the 5,000+ ‘ballers who walked through the doors in my previous position, would not have had an exit route. Many of them still play in this ‘fun & friendly’ league and are very happy doing so.
All About Netball, and other organisations like them, have their priorities right, you see. It’s the netball first and the money second.
Now, I’m no expert in business and I’m not going on Dragons’ Den anytime soon, but this to me makes sense in any business plan. If the ‘customer’ is happy then they return, they tell their friends, they are hungry for more and start talking umpiring courses, coaching courses and the like.
In my area the ‘traditional’ leagues have declined mainly due to the ‘corporates’ turning up. Let’s be honest many of these ‘7 birds & a ball’ leagues are run by volunteers who have sat on the league committees for years. They are not about change and they are not about rolling with the times.
With the success of Back to Netball and Netball Now though we have a new breed of ‘baller who will not sit through 3 hour league meetings, accept points deductions because their signature doesn’t match, when it was scrawled on a wet & windy night, or pay a £5 fine for not wearing full length leggings because it’s in the league rules to do so! (True story!)
Which is where the problems begin I feel. These ‘corporates’ actively target players who just want to ‘rock up and play’. Their netball experience is sketchy and probably limited to school and they don’t necessarily know any better. £6 for a 40minute game of netball (often 32 as no ‘baller carries a stopwatch round with them on court!) with one umpire and a mention on social media for the POM, is acceptable.
Down the road there’s a league at half the price, better organised, with more match time and support for those who wish to progress with umpiring, coaching etc if they wish. Theres always two umpires and even more than that mentors actively supporting up & coming officials. There’s a development plan for those who want to be involved but equally, for those who truly want to just rock up and play, the experience is player- centred and for my money, first class.
I’ve talked openly and honestly about the evolution of netball in my blog, for better or for worse. In my opinion, the ‘corporates’ will never truly ‘succeed’ or dominate because they’re not putting the netballer first.
True netball fans, volunteers on local leagues and dare I say, our netball NGB, need to wake up and smell the coffee though - ‘corporates’ are not going away: they have the money & resource to ‘hook’ ladies in and there is always a steady turnover of personnel because they’re not interested in where the money comes from, as long as there is a steady flow!
It’s true ’ballers responsibility to offer these ladies an viable alternative: a netball experience so good that they will never want to leave our great game!
Now, who’s up for the challenge!?’
Great read
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