Netball Australia rocked by 'racism' allegations amid $15 million drama
Netball Australia (NA) has been rocked by fresh controversy after concerning allegations from a former board member, who claims racism exists “at every level” of the sport.
It comes amid a player standoff centred around Netball Australia's $15 million sponsorship deal with Gina Rinehart's flagship company, Hancock Prospecting.
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The billionaire mining magnate's company logo was expected to feature on the uniforms of the Diamonds players throughout their Constellation Cup series, but after opposition from Indigenous player Donnell Wallam, who was supported by her teammates, it only featured on a press conference background banner after Game Three in Melbourne.
The Diamonds bounced back from the opening two defeats in New Zealand with a 15-point win over the Silver Ferns on Wednesday night.
Netball Australia say they are continuing to work with Wallam to address her concerns surrounding Hancock Prospecting's historical stance towards the Indigenous community.
However, the governing body is facing more scrutiny after former board member Nareen Young - now Associate Dean (Indigenous Leadership and Engagement) at the University of Technology Sydney Business School - said she experienced widespread racism during her time at Netball Australia.
Young was a Netball Australia director from 2013-15 and says that during that time "quite a lot of racism" existed in netball "at every level, including the board".
“I experienced some racism there," she admitted.
“One of my first meetings they were talking about One Netball – their diversity program and how proud they were of it.
“Indigenous players make up so many local (carnivals) ... there was then a promotional video made and released about netball and it was just all these blonde people.
“I don’t think there is a recognition that it manifests in every single thing that’s done.
“I had some things said to me by other board members that would knock your socks off - not at a board meeting, after a meeting - and in that moment I thought ‘not much point’.
“I went back and talked to very high-profile black netball players, and said it looks like it’s the same as it is at local comp level, and they said absolutely.”
Young said she was "proud" of the current playing group for discussing Netball Australia's multi-million dollar sponsorship deal with Hancock Prospecting, amid concerns for their teammate Wallam and the mining company's record on Indigenous affairs.
“It’s really interesting that this issue has come from them, as a women’s sport, and an Indigenous player has raised an issue and her teammates are falling in behind her.”
Netball Australia released a statement saying they were "not aware of these allegations", with the organisation adding that it took any claims of racism "extremely seriously".
“In 2020 a coalition of netball’s peak organisations signed a Declaration of Commitment, pledging to take significant action to break down the barriers that have prevented Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander players, coaches, umpires and administrators from flourishing in the sport," the statement said.
“Netball Australia made a public commitment to listen, learn and change by engaging with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and hearing about their experiences within netball.
“This incredibly important work continues and we welcome the opportunity to further understand these allegations.”
Netball Australia say they are continuing to work with Wallam to address her concerns surrounding Hancock Prospecting's historical stance towards the Indigenous community.
Diamonds back on track in Constellation Cup
On Wednesday night, however, the Diamonds were able to put the issue aside in their first home game in over 1000 days to thrash New Zealand 62-47, obliterating the 12-point aggregate advantage of their rivals heading into game three.
Now the Australians only need to win the fourth and final Test at the Gold Coast Convention Centre on Sunday night to wrest back the trophy they lost last year.
Playing a holding shooter role, Sophie Garbin shone in her first ever start in the position scoring 34 goals from 38 attempts, with Steph Wood chiming in with 28 from 35.
Defenders Jo Weston and Courtney Bruce teamed up to limit Kiwi shooting ace Grace Nweke to 30 goals.
Australian coach Stacey Marinkovich said the connection of the players was evident in their dominant performance.
"There's outside noise I think nobody can underestimate or understand the connection that is within our high-performance group," she said.
"We are very proud to represent Netball Australia, to be in the uniform and we're very good at having good collaborative conversations to shape the direction that we want to continue to take the sport and how we play the game.
"The unity that's within - you can't go out there and play the way we did (without it), it wasn't about proving anything to anyone else, it was about our own improvement."
Senior Diamond Kate Moloney said while the players had shown unity off the court, standing by Wallam, they also wanted to be at their best in front of home fans after two below-par showings in New Zealand.
"We came together and performance was our focus this week," the centre star said.
"We've shown that we have some great strength off the court and we wanted to show how strong we were on the court and I think the girls did a really good job of putting performance at the forefront of our minds.
"We wanted to play our Diamonds way - we moved the ball really fast and we brought the heat in defence as well. "
with AAP
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