In celebration of International Day of Sport for Development and Peace, Netball Australia is proud to announce the Australian Government has extended its partnership for the Official Development Assistance program, reaffirming their shared commitment to driving positive social and economic change across the Pacific through the power of netball.
The program is an Australian Government initiative supporting positive social and economic change by empowering women and girls to step into leadership roles and become champions within their communities.
After delivering Phase One of the program throughout 2021 – 2023, Netball Australia continues to support Pacific Netball Federations in Phase Two, which commenced in April 2024. With this new phase comes the inclusion of a new name, ‘Netball’s Ocean of Power: Strength in Every Wave’ reflecting the program’s vision and purpose.
Netball's Ocean of Power symbolises the strong connection between Netball Australia and four Pacific Netball Federations: Netball Fiji, Netball PNG, Netball Samoa and Tonga Netball Association, all united by the Pacific Ocean. It celebrates the collective strength and empowerment that emerge from working together to drive positive change across the region.
The tagline, ‘Strength in Every Wave’, captures the essence of the program by symbolising the continuous progress and impact it generates. Each wave represents the power, resilience, and transformative changes achieved through the program’s initiatives, highlighting the enduring strength that comes from collective effort across the region.
Netball's Ocean of Power supports the empowerment of Pacific women in leadership roles. The program has witnessed vast progress for the organisational governance of Pacific Netball Federations while elevating women into leadership and decision-making roles, advancing gender equality and empowerment of women in the Pacific.
Netball Australia recognises the vital role Pacific Netball Federations play in progressing gender equality and social inclusion. Through the program, Netball Australia has supported Fiji, PNG, Samoa, and Tonga to develop effective administration within their netball federations. As a result, the program has empowered over 16 women across the organisations to take up leadership positions during 2022 and 2023.
CEO of Netball Australia Stacey West expressed her enthusiasm to be involved in Phase Two of the program.
“We are thrilled to be part of the next phase of this program,” West said.
“The introduction of the name, ‘Netball’s Ocean of Power: Strength in Every Wave’, beautifully captures the transformative power of netball when we work together in partnership.”
“Building on the success of Phase One, we’re excited to deepen our collaboration with our partners, grow netball across the region, and continue driving meaningful social change.”
Over the past four years, Netball Australia has run several impactful initiatives as part of the program. These include Strategic Leadership Workshops in Fiji and Melbourne, gathering women leaders from the Pacific region to foster learning, networking, and mutual support within the Pacific community.
The Leadership Workshop in Melbourne brought together female Pacific leaders to share ideas and foster learning. Prominent female administrators from the Pacific Netball Federations were part of the workshops, demonstrating how the program has created avenues for Pacific women to take their place as leaders in the community and take on decision-making roles in netball.
Additionally, seven women leaders from Fiji, PNG, Samoa, and Tonga were sponsored to attend the 2023 Global Coach Conference in Singapore, which focused on coaching issues, research, and expert advice.
Facilitating the growth of coaches, umpires and administrators is another key aspect of Netball's Ocean of Power.65 umpires, predominantly women, were also supported through the Umpire Accreditation System, with 90% successfully completing the Foundation Umpire Course.
Sport education continued through Netball Australia’s Development Coaching Courses in PNG, Fiji, and Samoa, where 28 women were accredited through the second-tier Development Coaching Course.
Collaborating with the Australian Defence Force, Netball Australia organised six immersive sport training workshops which educated and trained over 240 community coaches and umpires to deliver inclusive, impactful, and safe netball activities. Topics covered included: netball education, first aid, CPR, sport training, nutrition, and strength and conditioning.
Along with capacity-building workshops, Netball Australia has helped nurture relationships between Pacific Netball Federations and significant netball partners in Australia – Suncorp Super Netball teams, high profile athletes and coaches, Australian and home-country High Commissions and Australian State Institutes of Sport to name a few. These connections enable netball to continue being the number one sport for women and girls in the Pacific and a powerful agent for social change by connecting to a large audience, elevating the sport globally.
Netball Australia strengthens connections between key netball partners in the Pacific and Australia, elevating the sport globally.For the next three years, Netball Australia aims to help Pacific Netball Federations to achieve the following goals:
- Deliver inclusive and sustainable programs through governance and administration.
- Empower Pacific women to take up leadership and decision-making positions both on and off the netball court.
- Deliver safe and inclusive programs, which increase the participation of a diverse network, including men, boys, and people with a disability.
As Netball Australia looks to the future with the role of hosting the 2027 Netball World Cup in Sydney, we are committed to growing the sport of netball further and strengthening relationships with our Pacific neighbours to create long term, sustainable impact in women’s lives.
We will continue to utilise our knowledge and resources in reducing barriers to female participation in netball, build organisational capacity and, by extension, strengthen the people-to-people linkages within the Australian-Pacific netball communities.
