Super Netball Tasmanian bid welcomed by Northern Hawks and Cavaliers

With the Magpies' potential departure meaning Tasmania's only games would go along with them, the state's netball body announced their willingness to fill that void.

Northern Hawks and Cavaliers coaches Alicia Sargent and Dannie Carstens discussed what a national-level netball team could do for the sport at both the Tasmanian Netball League and the junior grassroots levels.

Carstens pointed to the success of the NBL's Tasmania JackJumpers as a model in which netball could grow following the introduction of a national-level team.

"I think when you you get that next step in the pathway, people get really excited and people want to be involved," she said.

"Netball is a sport that's always had to be the poor cousin to other sports because it's not as good financially and doesn't get as much assistance, so if we were to break in and get a licence, I think that would be so exciting for our sport and the state."

Sargent agreed, adding that perhaps a Super Netball team's greatest benefit would be the spotlight it would bring to otherwise ignored regions.

"If the state got a team on the national stage, it would in turn draw more attention and more funding for the sport," she said.

"We have such a high participation rate across the nation for women, but it's also going up and I think it would be a game-changer to keep expanding that national competition across the whole of Australia."

READ MORE: Northern Hawks' Ash Mawer backs Super Netball Tasmanian licence

Carstens reiterated the point. "To have Super Netball on a consistent basis, you've got funding that goes with it, you've got more programs that go with it, you've got the exposure for those athletes and I think from grassroots all the way through, it's only going to have a positive impact," she said.

"It'd be great to see what it could do for the younger generation and no doubt it will pull more people into the sport, netball has got great participation rates in their juniors, so to see that even expand further, it's exciting.

"But it would also create a bit of a dilemma for the government with the already lacking infrastructures as well, so hopefully it will pull in a little bit more in terms of resourcing for indoor and outdoor venues for netball."

They also predicted that a higher level to aspire towards would lead to increased performance in the Tasmanian Netball League - which would act as the breeding ground.

"I think that's just a given, to be immersed in a high-performance training environment, which you would have full access to, if there was a Super Netball team here," Carstens said.

"It automatically raises the bar, the accountability, the exposure to those next-level athletes and their behaviours as well as in coaching, it's just a flow-on effect.

"There's no doubt in my mind that it would automatically improve the TNL competition across the board."

Sargent summarised: "The state league have a huge role to play.

"It'd be really important that we keep building the calibre of our programs here so that we are getting our players ready."

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