Source: AAP & Sports Business Insider
Netball Australia chief executive Kate Palmer says the continued delay over a new collective bargaining agreement is a necessary evil to ensure the sport can compete in an increasingly crowded women’s market.
A new eight-team Australian netball competition will launch next year and while clubs can approach and negotiate with players, signings can’t be announced until the CBA is finalised.
It was initially hoped the agreement would be ratified shortly after the trans-Tasman grand final.
However talks between the clubs and the Australian Netball Players’ Association (ANPA) are ongoing nearly three weeks later.
“I wouldn’t say it’s frustrating. It’s one of the most critical pieces in the puzzle,” Palmer said on Wednesday.
“We can have all sorts of other agreements in place but unless we get the athletes piece right, they won’t be happy and we won’t be happy.
“They make the league, we need them to be well-supported. It’s an opportunity to get it right.”
Palmer said she was confident the CBA would be finished “very, very soon” but would not give a definitive date.
AAP understands it may take another two weeks.
Palmer said Netball Australia and the ANPA were united in their desire to see Australian netballers become full-time professionals – if not immediately, then at some point soon.
“We both want that but we’re a little way off,” she said.
“We’d love to be able to pay them full-time, we’d love them to earn what an AFL player earns and that’s a dream we’ll reach one day.
“If we’re going to be competitive in women’s sport that’s something we need to offer.
“It’s how you get the start right and there’s a lot of people at the table trying to make that work.”
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